New sleeping arrangements

Elisabeth has moved upstairs. She was sleeping down in the basement, in her princess room, but a couple of months ago, she started complaining a lot about having to sleep downstairs by herself. Awhile ago I told her that Annabelle could move down with her when she turned one and was sleeping through the night, but then when that time came, I really didn't want her so far away from us. So Elisabeth moved up to Annabelle's room for about a week, but that room is probably the smallest in the house and we didn't have enough room for Elisabeth and her clothes. So a couple of weeks ago, we moved Elisabeth's bed into Charlie's room and they've been rooming together since. It's gone okay; sometimes they'll stay up later than usual talking or reading books, but they're usually pretty good about staying in their room.We've also put drapes up in both of the kids rooms. We had a blackout pull-down shade in both rooms, but there was a little space at the top, bottom and sides of the window that continued to let in light. And now that the sun is coming up earlier in the morning, the kids are getting up with it, which has not been pleasant. Charles was waking up at about 6am, and sometimes around 545am, and he doesn't take naps so he was kind of crazy for a few days. I went to Walmart and bought some blackout drapes to go over our blackout shades in the kids rooms, and I really like them. We've been using them for a couple of weeks now, and they help out a lot! The kids have been sleeping in past seven, which is wonderful!

Annabelle's roomCharles and Elisabeth's room

Notice the ties that pull the drapes together in the middle, so light can get in during the day. I made those! Okay, not really made, but I found this scrap of fabric lying around(it originally held a fleece blanket together with a piece of velcro), cut it in half, and added two more pieces of sticky-back velcro(that I already had with my craft stuff) to it and it works perfectly! I was happy I found a way to problem-solve without spending more money. I need to learn to do this more often. It's nice that I have a lot of creative and talented neighbors and friends(I get a lot of fun ideas from blogs) that inspire and motivate me.

Forever Strong

Scott and I watched a movie this weekend called, Forever Strong. This movie is based on a true story. It's about a high school rugby player from Arizona who is off track with his life and has to go to a juvenile detention center in Utah for about a year. The court agrees to shorten his term if he goes and plays with the Highland high school rugby team in Utah... because the coach at Highland is known for helping boys find a better way of life. The coach says he's more interested in turning out champion boys than champion teams(though they always are), and that he wants them to be forever strong on the field, so they'll be forever strong off it. So anyways, Scott and I both really liked this movie and the messages that it taught. It's not at the Red Box so you'll have to pay the big bucks to rent it at Hollywood or Blockbuster, but it's definitely worth it.

We watched the special features at the end, and they had an interview with Larry Gelwix, who is the coach of 31 or so years at Highland high school. I have to say, he inspired me. I ended up grabbing a piece of paper and a pen and taking some notes.

At one point, he talked about how many coaches yell and berate their players on the field, hoping to motivate them. But what Larry Gelwix said is that there is no such thing as negative motivation. He said, "you can't do the Lord's work in the devil's way." He says you can get a short term behavior change(w/yelling and berating), but they won't be committed to you. This struck me as something that's also true in parenting. Some parents yell, hit, or just talk in disrespectful language to their children, because they feel like that's the only way they can get through to them. But I completely disagree. I think the only thing you're teaching your children, when you act in that manner, is that when you're frustrated, angry, or upset, that it's okay and acceptable to hit, yell, and berate others. But it's not. I don't know about others, but I know I feel really uncomfortable when I see an adult acting in this way...it's very childish. It demonstrates a quick temper and a tendency for anger and aggression. I love this quote that, 'you can't do the lord's work in the devil's way,' because it's true in all aspects of life. How did the Lord teach his disciples, the poor, the sinners, the sick and afflicted? He taught them all in the same way: with love, kindness, patience and respect.

I think I'm doing okay at remaining in control of myself and keeping my actions in check, even when one of the kids is being exceptionally naughty. But I need to work on not having negative feelings at all, and learning to be peaceful inside, even when times are really trying. I'm hoping I can learn to master this before my kids are grown up, because I want them to have this kind of mom while they're young. I'm sure they can tell when I'm getting frustrated, because I probably let out a sigh of exasperation or roll my eyes, or do something of that sort. I think in order to do this I need to be more understanding and look at situations from different perspectives. Something that's interesting to me is that before I had kids, I thought I was a really patient person; I didn't ever think that was an attribute in me that needed improvement. But I was wrong and I've learned(the children have taught me) there are SO many different areas that I need to improve in. I'm grateful we have the Lord's example to follow and that He continues to enlighten us and give us guidance and direction when we seek for it.

Here are a few more of my favorite quotes from the movie/interview:
"Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent."
"Attitude and effort are everything. They're more important than natural talent, ability and smarts."
"It doesn't matter what you want to be, but who you want to be."

Kevin, Chelsey and family

Wednesday evening this week, we were able to have some long-time friends over for dinner. Scott and Kevin have been good friends since Scott moved to NC, and they were roomies in college as well. Kevin's family was in Utah this week for a family reunion, and they were able to stop by for a few hours. We loved being able to visit with them again, and to have our kids meet. The kids loved each other! Elisabeth and Charles were so excited to play dress-up with Jillian. Annabelle loved baby Peter; well mostly she liked having someone around closer to her size, that she could touch and manhandle, like her older brother does to her. I made sure to put myself in between them, once I saw how much she 'loved' Peter, so no harm would be done. Mostly, she just wanted to touch his face. I suppose this is what happens to children who have older siblings who are not very old themselves: their siblings begin to roughhouse and mess with them at an early age, therefore teaching them to do the same. The good thing is that she has learned some self-defense skills which have helped her out many times. I've gotten off track now. Anyways, we had a great time together and we hope that more friends and family will visit in the future!

Swimming lessons

We started swimming lessons this week! Elisabeth and Charles are taking them together at a private pool in our neighborhood. I preferred doing it this way because one, it's super close, and two, the instructor only allows a max of 4 kids in each class so the kids get more one on one time, compared to our city pools. And in fact, my two are the only ones during their time slot and day, which is even better. Both Lis and Char are a little afraid to be in the pool, but they've done really good so far. The first class they were mostly adjusting to the pool. They blew bubbles and dunked their heads under, which I was excited about. Charles was very hesitant about putting his head under, but he did. And then their second class this week, they practiced kicking and floating and swimming with the help of their teacher and/or a kickboard.

They'll take lessons two times a week, throughout the month of June, and then I think I'll sign them up again for August. July we'll be traveling so we won't be able to do it then. My goal is to bring them to the pool and allow them to practice as often as I can(w/Scott there to help, too, because I can't handle all three, near deep water, on my own).
Here's a picture of Annabelle sporting Elisabeth's goggles. The goggles didn't work well for the kids. I tried to get them on nice and snug before they got in the water, but still, water leaked in and made things worse, so they both ended up chucking them off to the side of the pool. Does anyone know any tricks to making kids goggles work a little better? Or a certain brand that's more efficient for children?

French bread pizza

Last night for dinner we ate french bread pizza. Charlie didn't want to eat it. We only gave him a small piece, but still, he only took a couple of nibbles. Elisabeth ate all of her pizza up quickly and then pulled out the fruit-by-the-foot treat she got in church. Charlie asked for some, and we told him he could have some once he ate more of his pizza. By this time, the rest of us were also done eating, so Scott and I got up and began clearing the table and washing dishes. After a few minutes Charles says, "Mom, can I have some now, I'm done." I look over, disbelieving, and inspect his plate. There's nothing there. I looked under the table, then looked over on the counter where the garbage is, and around his seat. Nothing, I can't find his pizza anywhere. So I turn to him and say, "Wow, Char. Did you really eat all that?"
"Yeah, I did. It's in my tummy."
"Oh, well, okay. Sure, you can have some then."
So Elisabeth shared her fruit-by-the-foot treat, until it was gone. And then, Charles pulls up his shirt and says, "Look!" And there was his pizza, practically the same size as when I last saw it.Then he takes a bite, sets the pizza down, and is done. Then he looks up and says, "It was in my tummy, but now it's not."Little trickster! Scott and I couldnt' help ourselves, we started laughing and laughed for a while. I just couldn't believe he did that. I don't think we've ever hid food before, and I don't remember ever seeing it in any of the movies we have, and they don't watch tv. So I'm not sure if he picked it up somewhere else, or if he invents these schemes all on his own.

Tea party

Herbal tea, of course :). Friday we had a tea party with a couple of our friends. This was my first tea party as an adult, I used to have pretend tea parties as a child. But anyways, it was so much fun. We had sweet breads and egg and cucumber sandwiches along with different kinds of herbal teas.

I drank chamomile tea a lot growing up, not because I loved it, but because that was our medicine for upset stomachs. I never added sugar and I sort of got used to the taste, and now I like it quite a bit. I recently looked up health benefits of a couple different herbal teas and there are quite a few. Chamomile is mostly a relaxant: relaxes muscles, helps with stomach aches and cramps, and helps with insomnia, stress, depression and anxiety.

I bought several types of herbal teas at the store this weekend and am excited to try them out.
I tried a peach herbal tea yesterday and I also made egg and cucumber sandwiches for dinner so Scott could taste them, since I liked them so much. And I made grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids. Yum!

Dollar Store sunglasses

I'm so glad the dollar store sells kid(and adult) sunglasses, because it seems like we lose some every year. Here are the three kids in their new sunglasses. Annabelle loves to try on all sorts of clothing and accessories to model for us. I think mostly she enjoys our very enthusiastic praise.

P.S. the New Moon movie trailer is up on Stephenie Meyer's website! It comes out in November. You can click here to view it.

Kiddie pool

Here are the kids playing with Brigham, in his kiddie pool. Maren got some cool action shots with her camera and sent them to me. Thanks Maren! Elisabeth wore Brigham's goggles/sunglasses and Annabelle wore Benjamin's sunglasses.

The garden

We extended the area of our garden this year. Not by a whole lot; probably by seventy-five to one-hundred square feet. But we hand tilled that area(with some little tools of course), so it took a couple of Saturdays to get it done. Here's what we've got growing in the garden right now:
strawberries, peaches, onions, peas(2 different kinds), tomatoes(4 different kinds), zucchini, carrots, potatoes, green beans and pumpkins.

Memorial day hike

We love long weekends! Scott and I were able to get a lot of yard work done. The kids helped(aka, threw dirt, dug holes and tried to keep Annabelle from eating too much dirt) too so it was a family event :). Monday morning, we told the kids after we did a little more yard work, we could go hiking. So that's what we did.

There was a spot in front of the shed that was full of weeds and very little grass.
We dug them all out and, soon enough, we'll spread mulch over top.

Scott digging out weeds near the garden

Once we finished pulling out all the weeds from three trouble-spots, we packed up some snacks and our gear, and took off for Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was about 2 miles altogether, and a pretty easy hike; a good one for the kids. This was Elisabeth and Charlie's first time hiking on their own. Last time we went hiking, Annabelle was in my tummy, and we each carried a kid in those hiking backpacks.

getting ready to hike

Charlie eating a sandwich before we began our hike

Pretty water in the background. We got to cross over a small bridge here, which the kids enjoyed.

Everyone did really well on the hike. Scott and I each held one of the kids hands during most of the time because it was a little muddy and slippery in some spots because the snow is still melting up top. Once we got to the end, where the Donut Falls are, there's this steep rock, only about 10 feet tall(that's my estimate), that you have to climb down. Once you're down, you walk along the edge of the water, and then step onto a trail of rocks that are mostly under water, to get a little further out so that you can see the falls. As we got to the steep rock, we watched a family in front of us, struggle a little, to get down. We could see the running water from the falls, just not the falls. That's when I said to Scott, "I think this is good. What do you think?" But he said he'd like to try and go down still, so that we could actually see the falls. So we carefully climbed down, helping the kids climb as well, over the slippery and muddy rocks. That was the scariest part. Climbing back up wasn't as bad. And the falls were very pretty. We held the kids close as we walked, because we didn't want to lose anyone to the rushing water. Water always makes me nervous, mostly because 1.) the kids can't swim, and 2.) they don't have enough sense to stay away...in fact, they are drawn to the water; just like they're drawn to fires. But anyways, the kids did great, Annabelle was on Scott's back in the backpack the whole time, and I gave Charlie a piggy-back ride for part of the time when he got a little tired. I'm so excited that the weather is warming up so that we can go on more hikes!

You can see the people down below in this picture. We're standing on the rocks that we're about to climb down so that we can see the falls. Pretty falls

On our way back down the trail, we stopped on flat ground and let Annabelle walk around. And we shared some apples.

Later that night we ate dinner at Arctic Circle. We love that they give free courtesy cones. Annabelle already likes to hold her own. And she can finish it, cone and all.

Daddy trying to take a bite of Annabelle's cone.

Memorial day cupcakes

Saturday evening we went to a BBQ at a friends house. We all brought our own meat, and something to share. I got a new cake decorating tip last week that I was wanting to try out on cupcakes...it's kind of a cupcake tip. This tip makes those giant swirls on the tops, that make cupcakes look like ice cream cones. So it's a lot of frosting for one cupcake and since not many adults like to have a lot of frosting(well, besides me...and maybe my mom), but generally kids do, I thought I'd bring it to the BBQ, because there was going to be lots of children there. I decorated 1/3 of the cupcakes in red, 1/3 in white and 1/3 in blue icing, and then I arranged them on the carrying tray, like the American flag. And I was right; they were a hit with the kids and were gone pretty fast. There's just something fantastic about eating a cupcake that has this giant colored swirl on top. I know I was excited! And I get so excited every time we walk into Peterson's Market bakery area and I get to see all the wonderful cakes they have there, with TONS of frosting! It makes my mouth water just thinking about it :).The only downside of these cupcakes(in my opinion) is that the blue and red ones change the color of your teeth and tongue. But that's only a very minor setback, and one that is easily remedied with a toothbrush and water.

Bob and Mary

I mentioned last month that I brought an Easter cake to my old boss from BYU. Well, we didn't get time to chat much since we were on our way to a Grazzini family get together, so we invited them over for dinner this past Friday. We had such a nice time visiting with them. Bob was like a second father to me. I knew him mostly in my single and early married years, and he gave me lots of good advice. And he took care of me when I was pregnant, but still working and attending school. He'd bring food to work, for me, almost daily, and he also brought in mouth wash for me to use whenever I had to run to the bathroom to throw up, which I did everyday for a few months. I'm not sure if he brought the mouthwash more for my benefit or for his(who wants to talk to someone with puke-breath, right?), but either way, I was very grateful. He was always wanting me to rest and always very aware of my needs and what he could do to assist. He's a great man. And of course, I know his wife Mary because we got together with them a few times, for dinner for dessert or some other activity while I was down at BYU.

Anyways, I hadn't seen them in a couple of years until last month, and I wasn't sure what the kids reaction would be to them, but they loved them. Elisabeth was all over Bob. I think she was on his shoulders most of the evening: while we sat and visited, while they walked around in the backyard, while they walked downstairs to Elisabeth's room. And I tried a couple of times to get her off, but Bob would always say, "No, leave her. She's good here." Alright, whatever Bob, it's your back :). We're so glad we got to visit, and hopefully we'll be able to get together more often.