Sunday revelations

I just love Sunday mornings. Especially now that our church doesn't begin until 1:00. At first, admittedly, I was dreading "the late schedule" as others call it, because I wondered if I would be just waiting around all morning, impatiently, to go to church. But actually, I LOVE our Sundays. Today we woke up and baked cookies...something I don't usually do, because we are always running errands, cleaning, or working somehow. But Sundays, I just get to do things with my kids. After we made cookies, we all got dressed and ready.

My kids always put on our "Jesus movies" as we call them, the animated Scripture stories. The tv is still playing, but the kids have moved into the living room.

When Ashley was born, I had visions of pink, dollies, ribbons, pink, butterflies, and more pink. I think I got the butterfly thing right, but the rest...nah. Ashley just doesn't like "girly" things. I didn't realize this until AFTER I sold my soul for a deluxe special edition townhouse dollhouse complete with moving doors, a flickering computer screen in a den, a fireplace that crackles, and a doorbell that rings. It has sat virtually untouched in our basement. I had high hopes for Natalie, but it's an interesting thing...Ashley, being the oldest, seems to direct so much of the sibling play, that the dollhouse really only gets used when Elizabeth, Abby, or Madelyn come over to play. Oh well.



That is, until today. Andrew dragged it upstairs, and now, all three (and sometimes Matthew) of the kids are playing happily. It's fun to sit in another room, unnoticed, and listen in to the conversations your kids have. One of the funniest things I heard was the following: From what I can gather, Andrew is the mom, because we have no "boy" dolls. Ashley is the 16-year-old daughter, and Natalie is the neighbor friend. Ashley invited Natalie to go swimming at the community pool. As they were going, Andrew asked "Why don't I get to go?" Ashley replied, "You're the mom. You don't get to do fun things. You have to stay home and...well...take care of the baby." (Andrew protested: "But I don't HAVE a baby!")

Aaaahhhh...how funny to picture motherhood through their eyes, and to realize they have NO idea the JOY and pure happiness that being a mom brings. I love my job, and well, even if I don't get into the community pool (barring a certain dolphin-like image my thighs bring to mind...) I think I have ALL the REAL fun! My joy is them!...and watching them "play" house.

(John spoke in church today, and said that HE overheard the kids playing and heard someone say, "I'm home!" The other child replied, "it's 6:00! You said you'd be home at 5:00!" to which the first child responded "well, there was a traffic jam...")

Heeeeere Kitty Kitty Kitty!

So, I LOVE our little pond. I love our little fish. I love watching all of the different birds that come to bathe in the top of the waterfall. I have to admit it, I even liked the not-so-little-to-me snakes that lived there, until I found out they were eating our little fish.



Last spring, I loved the two little ducks that used to visit. We even found a nest they had built in the bushes with three eggs inside. One day we came home to a baby duckling swimming all alone in the pond (looks like Mama came to the Bytheway community pond for a playdate and forgot to gather her brood before heading home!) We gathered him up and found his family back at the neighbor's house (a gargantuan pond where dozens of duck families live). It was the cutest thing to watch this little baby find its mom again. But I digress.

They've returned. The ducks. A male and female, anyway. I don't know if they are the same ducks, but it's kinda fun to have them around. Well, at first it was. I remember last spring John said they really were messy and ruined the water. But I still allowed the ducks swim during the day when John was gone because hey, who doesn't like to watch ducks? But only a week or so into my benevolence, the water got WAY murky...and yucky. Seemingly a small price to pay. Ashley even rigged some "trap" for them with a fishing line attached to a magnetic door that she triggered from Andrew's room! Funny.

But not so funny yesterday. John saw them swimming (while I was gone) and tried to walk toward them to scare them. They seemed almost happy to see him! So, he grabbed his air-soft gun to try and scare them. He shot them a couple of times, and they acted like someone had just splashed a few drops of water on them! So he ran toward them trying to scare them, and when they finally flew out of the water, one of them dropped a FISH out if its mouth.
That's it. NOBODY hurts my fish. Now the ducks have reached "snake" status with me.
So, we don't want to injure them, and clearly they're not that scared of us. So, how do you get a duck to leave your fish alone? Get a kitty. One that won't eat fish.

Spills and Smiles

So, I went to give Bethany her bath, and when I looked into her tub, realized an older sibling, presumably Timothy had dumped a whole bottle of bubble bath out in her tub. I guess I could have been prudent and tried to save most of it, but I decided to fill the thing and just use it up! Here's my little "Bethany Bubbles." We owe ya one, Timothy!

Cheater

I'll admit it. I'm kindof a cheater with my kids. But I try and cheat in ways they don't realize. Ya know, the kind of cheater that adds extra veggies into the spaghetti sauce because they wouldn't eat them otherwise. Sometimes I tell my kids that carrots will help them see in the dark and that green beans will make them run fast. Perhaps I've misused the word "cheater" but to me, it means doing something sort-of "parallel" to the truth rather than telling the whole truth. Maybe I'm not a cheater. Maybe I'm just a "tricker." But, since my kids have sometimes adopted telling flat-out lies with the disclaimer "I was just tricking" I've had to be a little more blatant in telling them, "No, you're lying" or "that's cheating." So, maybe I am a cheater.
My latest cheat came on April 5. Matthew turned 4. But that was such a busy day! It was General Conference, with a priesthood session in the evening, and I didn't really feel like throwing a half-baked party together at 8:30 at night...so we just didn't tell him it was his birthday! Sunday was also conference, and a joint FHE with John's family, so we skipped it again. Monday...I have no excuses except that the kids needed a lesson on family teamwork, so we skipped the party again. Tuesday was Tiffany's birthday, so during the day we had a little lunch at my house, with delicious salads, Martinelli's, fruit, and fancy desserts.



But that night John had a commitment, and was gone until 9:00 p.m. No party.

Wednesday, John was out of town until late at night again, and so it was, almost a whole week late, we finally told Matthew that it was his Birthday on Thursday!!!
Of all the fun things there are to do in the world, McDonald's PlayPlace seemed to be the venue of choice...and we tried to convince him otherwise! I wanted to go bowling, but alas, we ended up with dollar-menu cheeseburgers and fries. I think I can count on one hand the times we've gone to the PlayPlace. It's somehow never on my list of places to take my kids. I never even think of it. Don't be fooled. We're regulars in the drive-thru, but for some reason we never end up inside.



After, we had "cake and presents" (minus the ice-cream you notice).




I let the kids pick a few gifts out for him (A "finding Nemo" shirt, some hot-wheels cars, and a toy gun) and John and I got him our first family wagon. He's been asking for one for a good year, now, but we didn't really have a space for it in our garage. (I got the water-proof plastic kind of wagon that has drainage holes in the bottom...so now it can sit out in the rain all it wants!)
Anyway, the bottom line is, Matthew is currently pulling his wagon around my house, in his new Nemo Shirt, toting his hot-wheels cars and "cowboy gun" inside...and he's none the wiser that he's really 4 +6 days old. I guess cheating is ok.

Just Foolin' Around...

So, last year for April Fool's Day, we posted a "FOR SALE" sign in front of our home, complete with papers and a price for our home. We actually got two offers (one from a guy in California who wanted to buy it sight-unseen!) This year we weren't prepared and had to be more spontaneous.
I woke the kids up and had Andrew and Natalie put their clothes on backwards. Ashley was a little nervous, so didn't.



As I made their lunches, I took a huge bite out of each sandwich, put canned corn in their baggies, carefully opened their fruit snacks and replaced them with some leftover conversation hearts then reclosed the packages, diced up their apple slices, added a few "random" items like a glove, a glue stick, a cupcake Christmas tree decoration, a paint brush, and a note that said "Appy Hapril Fool's Day!"

For "dinner" we decided to have breakfast! We headed over to IHOP and told the kids to order breakfast food. We had no idea the fun menu item they were featuring...so appropriate for April Fool's Day! It's called Jo-Jo's breakfast from Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hears a Who" featuring "Who pancakes and Green Eggs and Ham." All the kids got it and LOVED it!



But in the end, we decided WE were the fools, because we had assumed we could take a nap-less Timothy to a restaurant without irritating all of the other customers. Two trips to the restroom to calm temper tantrums was all it took...ugh...but for the most part, we enjoyed our meal. Of course, on leaving, Matthew took the NEAREST exit...the one marked "do not open. alarm will sound"....and BOY did it sound! LOUD LOUD LOUD!!! Thank heavens for the other cheerful patrons who laughed when it happened, especially after they watched me struggle with Timothy through the meal! As we walked out, I laughed and said to them, "What would April Fool's Day be without a few fools?"