No electricity

Sunday afternoon, the electricity went out and we heard the tornado sirens go off. So, we all headed downstairs to the storage room, with a flashlight, some blankets, Brad's Blackberry (to get weather updates), and a FHE lesson. The kids were somewhat nervous and unsure of what to expect. The whole experience actually tied in nicely with the lesson I had prepared on heeding warnings. The week before, we had talked about the importance of "watchmen" in the form of prophets, parents, teachers, etc., so we continued building on that theme. It turned out to be a great experience because we totally had the kids attention- all huddled up together in the in the storage room, in the dark.

When the rains stopped, we went for a walk around our neighborhood and enjoyed seeing so many people outside socializing. It's amazing what can happen when you don't have electricity! After a quick bowl of cereal, we loaded everyone into the car and drove to our favorite nature park. This has become our standard Sunday walking spot. It's so beautiful this time of year and is usually pretty deserted. So, the kids can run wild, burn energy, and not bug anyone. Perfect!

Little did we know, we wouldn't have electricity for another two and a half days. Monday morning, Brad called a friend (who had electricity) and asked if we could borrow his generator so our food wouldn't spoil. That worked great and we were so grateful for their generosity.

Other than the food issue, it was pretty nice not having the normal interruptions that can come along with electricity. Not that I'd like to live without it permanently, but it was okay for a few days. We all went to bed earlier. It reminded me of the olden days. People got up when the sun came up, and went to bed when it went down. I'm sure they didn't suffer from some of the sleep disorders we have nowadays. Their bodies were probably in a great routine. Also, kids probably didn't complain much about the food they were served. After working outdoors all day, they were probably exhausted and just thankful to eat. So, it was nice to reflect a little on the pros and cons of life with or without electricity.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Lucy's favorites

Some of Lucy's favorite things right now are:

1. Painting -she loves to sit at her little table in the kitchen and paint her heart out. Her projects usually end with paint and water all over the table, her arms, face, and nose. But, it's easy to clean up, so I just let her go at it.
   
   
   
2. Singing "I love to see the temple" and "You are my sunshine." She doesn't get all the words right, but that makes it even cuter. I'm always amazed at how kids brains work. She listened to those songs for months never singing a word, and then suddenly, voila!, she knew and sang the whole song herself.
   
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   Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
   
   
   Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
   
   
3. Having Charlie paint her finger and toe nails. They both get a kick out of this.
   

Morning Thoughts

You know the morning didn’t go well when two of your children leave to school with tear stained faces.

These are my thoughts. How do I cope with the kids when:

• I make a real effort to have scriptures and prayers with them each morning, and then they laugh, talk, and make faces at each other during the whole thing?
• They don’t clean their rooms or brush their teeth each morning?
• They yell at me because I yell at them?
• They have already tried to veto the summer schedule I created and discussed with them?

Other questions?

What’s a good incentive each day that’s healthy and productive, which they’ll like?

What IS something the boys do consistently each day that they like and I could use to my benefit (since TV, video games, dessert, having friends over isn’t a daily thing)? They read (that's their escape from jobs or a nagging mother). So, how do I enforce a no reading rule, when our home is full of books?

How do I stay focused and unphased when my “teammates” are consistently dropping the ball all around me?

A family is unique in that you can’t fire them or kick them off the team. If you had an employee or a member of a sports team not “step up,” you could choose not to work with them. Not so here. We’re stuck with each other.

So, I find many balls dropped, jobs left undone, and a lack of cooperation. How can I rally my teammates effectively?

The boys don't want a schedule during the summer. But, if we don’t follow some sort of a schedule, how will we get anything done? Maybe I could discuss the whole contract idea again. What’s the purpose of a contract? It’s a two-way agreement. I promise things and they promise things in return.

Things I care most about happening each day?

Having a good feeling in the home
Scripture study
Piano
Clean up- bedrooms and power clean up
Spanish
Reading/Math

I want all of these things to happen without being a nag or yelling! Is that possible?

Schools out in two days...

I’ve never run a marathon, but if I were going to, I can imagine how it would be. First, I’d prepare- mentally and physically. I’m sure I’d start the race with excitement and anticipation, mentally strong, with a clear plan in mind. But, as the miles started clicking away, I’m sure my mind would start to feel a little muddled, my body would be wearing down and at some point, I’d just go into survival mode to finish the race.

That’s basically how I feel about summer break. I always have great plans when we start out, but as the weeks wear on, we seem to “hit the wall” and just do our best to survive by the end. So, as summer draws nigh, I’m in my preparation stage. There are several aspects of preparation I focus on: summer goals for each child, weekly activities and outings, vacations, and flexible daily schedule (which basically is my list of jobs for the kids and when they need to be done).

As I write this, I realize motherhood has been a marathon. Before having children, I had such clear ideas about how I wanted to be as a mother and how I wanted to raise them. Now that I’m in the thick of it, sometimes I feel my mind is so muddled, I can’t think straight at all. That’s why I really need some quiet time each day, where I can gather my thoughts, get some perspective, and once again prepare for the ongoing race.

And when she was good, she was very, very good...

But, when she was bad, she was HORRID!

What to do with a little girl who:

1. Always wants mommy, but mommy doesn’t always want her.

2. Doesn’t go to sleep at night until AFTER everyone else is asleep, and she’s turned EVERY light on.

3. Uses language she’s not supposed to like “I hate you. You dumb. You stupid. Stop it! Be quiet!You're so mean. Butt…”

4. Wastes cold cereal nearly every day because she pours too much when I’m not looking.

5. Loves to tease at the worst times, like when I’m on the computer or when I’m totally exhausted and trying to put her to bed.

6. Throws a huge tantrum whenever she doesn’t get her way.

7. Laughs when I take extreme measures like spanking or yelling.

8. Is unrelenting and insistent that I read “another one” when story time is over.

9. Won’t stay in her room during bedtime or quiet time and kicks the heck out of the door if I lock it.

10. Screams at her brothers if they look at her without permission.

11. Tells her brothers they stink.

12. Goes outside and wanders over to the neighbors by herself without us knowing.

13. Screams for ice cream, candy, or any other junk she thinks might be lurking about.

14. Doesn’t eat the food I prepare.

15. Repeats herself over and over so many times, it makes my head spin.

16. Refuses to sit on the toilet, no matter what the reward.

Naughty or not, I’m so glad she’s ours. Life wouldn’t be complete without little Lu!

Aging

A few weeks ago, I had an MRI done on my back. That was a strange experience. I’m not really claustrophobic, but started to get a bit uneasy when finding myself in such tight quarters for 30+ minutes. I began to understand how some people totally freak out from the confinement and refuse to proceed.

Another thought I had while lying there was of my one-month old, first born son, waking up during his MRI and the hospital paging Brad and I to come and get him back to sleep. What an unnerving experience that was for us as new parents to await the results. Come to find out, he had developed a bone infection in his left arm and right hip and needed immediate surgery. For six weeks, he was given IV antibiotics through a PIC line. The doctors told us infections such as his could damage a growth plate within 72 hours.

For the next two years, we made regular visits to the orthopedic surgeon for x-rays and follow up. Fortunately, Spencer made a full recovery. Two of my favorite memories from our hospital stay are seeing Spencer smile for the first time and watching his fascination for a mobile above his bed. He smiled at all the doctors and students that came to prod and poke him nonstop. I couldn’t have been more thrilled with my little boy.

Anyway, as far as my back goes, I’ve had pain since 2000, which has progressively gotten worse. The MRI showed spinal degeneration and bulging discs. The good news is, I finally know what’s wrong. The bad news is that I have arthritis and pain in my back, which affects me every day. I’m hoping to find a physical therapist who specializes in the lumber spine who can give me specific exercises and stretches that will help alleviate the pain.

Yard work

We had mulch delivered on Wednesday. Lucy and I enjoyed watching the truck dump it right in the middle of our driveway. I spent three hours in the morning getting it spread around the front landscaping. It was a beautiful day and very therapeutic for me to be out working in the yard. Lucy started out shirtless, except for a Home Depot apron. Then I worried about her getting burned, so I covered her up. Right before we started working on the mulch, she stepped on the scooter wrong and took a hit in the nose,which caused it to bleed. Once we got that taken care of, she loved loading her bucket full of mulch and spreading it around.


After nearly an hour of being really helpful, she started leaving the yard. So I strapped her into the car seat in hopes of her falling asleep. It worked. She ate a little sandwich and was out in five minutes. That was great, because she got a good nap in and I ended up getting several hours to myself to work in the yard, and do snack and dinner prep before the boys got home at 4:30pm.

So, Wednesday evening, we had our FHE activity. I thought the boys would love loading the wheelbarrow and dumping the dirt around. But, before they started loving it, they had really bad attitudes and were bickering like crazy. I called Brad from the backyard for reinforcement and he did what only a good, loving father can do- took them into the garage and gave them a royal chewing out. It made me laugh for a couple of reasons. One, because I didn’t have to do it, two, because I don’t get why they bicker over such stupid stuff, and three, because here we’ve set out to have a great family activity together and ten minutes into it, the whole family, minus me, is being chewed out in the garage.

Amazingly, after that, the boys did great and we did have a good time together. We spent another three or four hours spreading mulch and getting the whole project done. We’ve lived here four years and this is the first year we’ve replenished the mulch. It looks really nice. I really love our landscaping. The original owners did it right. There’s hardly any maintenance and the bushes and trees are gorgeous this time of year.