Gender Roles

We have a wedding coming up for which Phoebe will wear a purple dress. Today during lunch she was talking about how pretty her purple dress is, and how excited she is to wear it. Bryan, feeling playful, decided to tease her a bit.

Phoebe: I'm going to wear my purple dress.

Bryan: No, I'm going to wear your purple dress.

Phoebe: NO! You can't wear it! You're a boy, you wear a blue dress.

Oh dear...

Graduation

Can you find Bryan? This is before graduation on Friday.

And this is after.

Bryan's dad and brother's took care of the boys while I spent the majority of the ceremony chasing Phoebe around the halls. Of course we waited until after Bryan's name was read.

This is the only non-blurry picture we got that day.

I was pretty sad when I discovered the blurriness of the other pictures. Bryan sent out a message to his newly-graduated classmates and asked if anyone still had their graduation regalia. Luckily, a few of people did. One fellow messaged Bryan and said that they were taking family pictures on Sunday evening and we could meet them on-campus to take some pictures of our own. The gown fit, the cap was a bit snug.

Did I mention that the wife of this MBA is a professional photographer? She took pity on me and my little point-and-shoot camera and offered to take the pictures and send them to us. We said yes.

We washed the clothes that the kids wore on Friday and dressed them as they had been that day. I just wore what I'd worn to church.

This is my favorite of the kids.

I LOVE the framing of this one. See the Y in the background? And that big gray building just below the Y? That's where Bryan had most of his classes.

This is my favorite of me and Bryan. Pity two-thirds of the children are closing their eyes. And Cooper appears to be picking his nose...

During the last few days we've done... very little. My dishes are piling up and the laundry really needs to be folded, but I'm so relived to be done I've lounged around watching TV and poking about on Facebook. That's right, I've been on Facebook, a rather unusual occurrence during the past few years.

I'm sure that I'll even out soon, stop lazing about and start taking care of things. I think I'm just recovering from running at top speed for too long.

The Culmination

You may have seen this on Facebook. Bryan altered it to remove his middle and last names, just for the blog.

But you didn't see this on Facebook.

The date says yesterday, because graduation here covers two days. Today is the final day.

Here's hoping that we all get to where we need to be, the camera works, the kids stay relatively calm while waiting through the long ceremony, and that Bryan is able to enjoy his last moments as a student.

Cap and Gown

As Bryan was tucking Cooper into bed last night he told Cooper something exciting.

Bryan: Cooper, I'm not going to school tomorrow.

Cooper: Why? Where are you going?

Bryan: I'm staying home with you. I can play with you tomorrow.

Cooper: (disbelief, then excessive grinning)

Bryan took his last final yesterday. The last final of the MBA program. Tomorrow he will dress up in a fancy black cap, black gown, and a blue hood. And we will cheer and clap.

And maybe cry.

Up A Tree

Once upon a time there was a boy who climbed a tree. He climbed high, so high that when his little brother called for him to return to the ground, he looked down and discovered he was stuck.

The boy cried out for help and the little brother sprang into action. He ran to the dad and the mom and alerted them to his brother's plight. Now, the boy had climbed trees in the past, so at first the parents believed that he could get down on his own. But the little brother was persistent and continued to summon the parents.

Finally the dad walked to the tree, followed by the mom. A crowd of children had gathered and were gaping up at the boy in the tree. The mom followed their combined gaze. She searched, then spotted the boy higher than she had expected.

The dad surveyed the situation.

Then he climbed the tree.

The mom took pictures.

After some convincing from the dad and some crying from the boy (and some yelling from the little sister for her daddy to "come down out of that tree right now!"), the dad was able to help the boy to safety.

One would think the boy would avoid climbing trees after such a bad scare, but no. During the same afternoon at the park, he climbed the tree twice more and was thwarted during a third attempt.

Perhaps climbing trees was in his blood...

Guess Who Picked Out Her Own Clothes Today?

On A Golden Springtime

Peter spoke in Primary yesterday. On Saturday I pointed him toward a few resources (The Children's Songbook, Doctrine and Covenants Stories, the scriptures) and he sat on his bed for a while and read.

On Saturday night I sat at my computer while Peter dictated his talk to me. He really wanted to type it himself, but I've learned that he gets more focused on changing the font and the size of the letters than he does on the actual writing. I made a few small suggestions as he went, asked chronology questions, but mainly stayed out of it. I would say that this talk is 85% him, 15% me, which isn't too bad for a seven-year-old.

When it came time to deliver it, he remembered to stand up straight, hold the paper down so it wouldn't cover his face, and speak loudly and clearly into the microphone. He even pronounced pastor and evangelist correctly.

Oh, and he insisted on writing his name at the end.

Jesus Christ Restored His Church in the Latter-days

Joseph Smith was curious to know which church to join. He went to a grove near his home and prayed to Heavenly Father to know which church to join. He saw a pillar of light and in it he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father said, “This is my Beloved Son, hear him.” And then Jesus Christ said none of the churches were true.

Joseph Smith History chapter 1 verse 19 says: 

I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

The Primary song On a Golden Springtime says:

On a golden springtime, in a forest glade,
The Father and the Son appeared as Joseph knelt and prayed.
Awake, awake, O nations all!
Receive the gospel light!
The gospel true is here for you.
Receive its glorious light!

Then Joseph returned home and told his mom. He also told many other people. Some of them didn’t believe him and were mean to him.

Then one night when he was sleeping, the Angel Moroni came to visit Joseph Smith and told him about the Gold Plates. Joseph Smith helped him by translating the Golden Plates with Oliver Cowdery.

The sixth Article of Faith says:

“We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.”

Through Joseph Smith, Jesus restored the church. Some of these things include the Priesthood, covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Gospel.

 I know the church is true and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Peter

Inspector Gadget

Tonight we went to this year's closing social for the MBA program. The majority of us spent the evening shivering due to the outdoor location and the cold temperatures. The entertainment for the evening included announcing Superlatives. The students had all voted  on who was "The Most Likely to..." of several categories.

There were quite a few, and I wondered if Bryan would be mentioned. Then towards the end he and another fellow tied for a category.

Want to know what Bryan was named? "The Most Likely to Own the Latest Gadget Before You Do."

It looks like his classmates know him pretty well.

Nature Preserve

We have a new hobby. When Cooper and Phoebe and I pick up Peter from school, we don't go right home. Instead, we drive around town and look at houses. Some of the neighborhoods around here have gigantic homes. Peter calls those "the ones I would get lost in." We've also looked at smaller homes, so now my children will call out "those are modest homes" or "those house are huge!" In addition to size, we make note of architectural style and materials used. Apparently we all prefer homes with stone accouterments.

On our drive today, we saw something that I haven't seen the whole time I've lived in this valley.

Mountain goats. Or at least, they were goats, standing on the side of a steep hill, grazing. I'm not sure if they were really mountain goats, but it was still impressive.

Can you see those white specks on the hill?

Want a closer look?

After oohing and aahing over our brush with nature, we pulled back onto the road (because I had pulled off to take the pictures), turned the corner, and saw deer. Here's one of them.

Who needs the zoo?

Ouch

Tonight as I was trying to figure out what to post, we heard a thump and Cooper started to cry. Bryan jumped and ran and I followed.

We've been putting the boys to bed in different rooms, one in theirs and one in ours. Tonight Cooper went to sleep in our room. I had checked on him about an hour before he cried out. He had been tucked in near the middle of the bed.

Bryan found him on the floor, just having experienced a long drop onto our hard carpet.

At first we thought that he had just been startled,  then I noticed a blue line on his temple and the beginning of a lump starting to form. We're not sure if he hit our nightstand or our bed frame. Either way, he's going to have a nasty bruise.

The silver lining? I got to snuggle with him as I held ice to his injury and he drifted back off to sleep. I don't like that he got hurt, but it's nice to know I can comfort him.

Mmm Mmm Better

I made a cooking discovery this evening. We've had a cold snap the last week and I wanted to make chicken noodle soup for dinner. I rummaged through the pantry and discovered that we had ramen noodles. I did something wildly out of character: I cooked without a recipe.

The end result? I made something that tasted quite a bit like chicken noodle soup out of a can, but better. The ramen noodles mimicked the canned noodles, so the consistency was right. Two out of three children loved it. The third used his noodles to create an artistic design on the table and then spooned the majority of his food into Phoebe's bowl. He finally choked down a few bites, but he tends to only like cereal and fruit and beans, so I was happy he even attempted it.

Hooray for throwing four packages of ramen noodles, a bag of frozen vegetables, a can of Costco chicken, six cubes of bullion, a few shakes of pepper, a few shakes of thyme, and twelve cups of water into a pot and ending up with a delicious meal!

Shining Brightly

Remember the song I made up to teach Phoebe how to spell her name? A few days ago we discovered that she knew it. Now, she can't connect the name of the letters to the shape of the letters, but she can definitely sing the song. And she's really cute.



She wanted to do the song again, but this time she voiced her baby doll. I'm including the second movie to share that she's just as much of a ham as her brothers. And they seem to appreciate it.

Take a Walk

Today when it was time to get Peter from school, I decided we should walk, so we did. Well, I did. Phoebe and Cooper rode in the double stroller. Then we walked to Peter's piano lesson. He went in and Cooper and Phoebe and I strolled around listening to birds and looking for tulips and daffodils. Then we decided to take the long way home.

After two and a half hours and more than three miles, we walked in our front door.

I hope my muscles still work tomorrow...

Peter, posing with our school mascot, while out on our walk.

Spelling Bee

Cooper has been practicing his writing skills. He writes notes, writes stories, and leaves messages in magnets, like this one he left for me. I think it's darling.

Cool Story

My sister and her husband spent a few days with us, including the Sunday of General Conference. Eugene, my brother-in-law is fantastic with my kids. During a break in the sessions, he called them together to read to them. They all enjoyed it.

Thanks for visiting us Paige and Eugene!

The Voice

I am a singer.  My voice is part of what defines me. When I'm sick and don't have my voice, I feel out of sorts, like I'm missing something vital and I can't find it.

For the last year, I have not had a full voice. Stress and illness and lack of sleep have plagued me and they usually rob me of my ability to sing my best. That doesn't mean I haven't sung. I've had the opportunity to sing as a soloist on three occasions during this school year, and while they weren't awful, I know how much better they could have been.

On Easter Sunday I had an experience very similar to the one that I detailed on this blog in October of 2009. I even sang the same song. Moments before I had to take the stand I was choking on notes in the hallway, praying that I would be able to get through the song without coughing. I know Bryan was praying too, because I asked him as I sat next to him in the pew. I was in full freak-out mode.

I got through the song. A few of the notes were pushed, but thanks to the microphone, I was able to pull back when I could feel my voice going. I didn't cough, and the Spirit was strong. I was thankful that those prayers were answered.

I've been worried that my voice is leaving me. I don't know who I would be without it. I think I've always been afraid that I would somehow lose it. My Patriarchal Blessing says nothing about music, which puzzled my mom. Why didn't it mention what was probably my most obvious skill? What did that mean for the future?

Tonight as I sang I Am a Child of God and Away In A Manger to Phoebe at bedtime, my mind wandered to one of the talks from General Conference. Elder Falabella taught us that "a child who sings is a happy child." I smiled when I heard that and thought, "Well, at least I'm doing one thing right. We sing all the time."

Then a new thought entered my head. Perhaps my voice is meant for my children. Yes, I need to share it with others as well, but the most important singing I will do will be with and to my children.

As the thought concluded I had such a strong spiritual witness that I almost had to stop singing. This was a beautiful truth that had never before occurred to me. This is why it wasn't mentioned in my Blessing, because the real purpose of my singing isn't to gain accolades, but to comfort and teach and engage my children. It is one of my most important tools as a mom.

My voice will come back, I hope. It will continue to define me, but not in the same way it used to. I am a singer who now knows her most important audience.

Feeding My Spirit

I love General Conference. It helps me refocus on what is most important. It calms me. It enriches me.

As a child I didn't love Conference. It was long and I usually fell asleep. The good thing about it was that we would watch it from my Grandma's house, so I could at least look forward to the visit.

During college my opinion shifted. I started watching Conference for the messages and the spiritual fulfillment. I began looking forward to that special weekend that would come twice a year. And it was always over too quickly.

Now as a mom, I'm lucky if I can listen long enough to figure out the topic of each talk. I spend most of my time encouraging the kids to listen and asking them questions to learn what they're catching. Saturday and Sunday of this week were spent handing out pads of drawing paper, shushing children, and trying to listen when the din died down.

In spite of the chaos, I still enjoyed Conference. Three talks stood out to me: Sister Elaine Dalton's, Elder L. Whitney Clayton's, and  Elder Jeffery R. Holland's.

They filled my soul.

Wings

In her attempt to give up her nap, Phoebe often throws herself into playing. I hear sounds of make-believe float from her room rather than the peaceful silence of slumber. But occasionally, her exhaustion gets the better of her. And on those days, she falls into bed, wings and all.

Outtakes

Remember when I said I had taken pictures of the kids in the car on Sunday in an attempt to document their Easter clothes? Well, I finally looked at those pictures tonight. They're not great. And at the same time, they're totally awesome.

Here are my two favorites, not because they're fantastic pictures, but because they're rather hilarious.

Sunshine Day

I am happy to report that today was a better day than yesterday.

The change was due in part to how we spent our time. We had some kids over to play this morning, then we met friends at the park for a picnic. After playing in the sunshine and warmth for a few hours we came home and a few of us (including me) took naps. Then we had friends over again to play and have dinner with us.

I know that I love sunshine. And I know I'm a social creature. My kids have developed those same inclinations. Perhaps the combination of the two lifted our moods enough to lead to better behavior?

Bedtime, which is usually crazy hour, was even calmer than usual.

We still had a few rough patches, but it was a marked improvement.

Pink Is the New Green

We're two days in to Spring break. The first day was fabulous. Today was... rough.

In Peter's class his teacher uses a stoplight system to track behavior. If the kids are good they stay on green. If they misbehave, they can go to yellow. After yellow comes red (and a call to the parents), then double red and a visit with the principal.

Bryan suggested that we do the stoplight thing at our house this week. Yesterday Cooper ended the day on yellow, while Peter and Phoebe ended on green.

Last night as we were getting ready for bed I told the kids what color they were each on. When I informed Phoebe she was on green, she looked at me sternly and said, "No! I'm on pink!"

I won't tell you who ended on what today, only that Phoebe made the same declaration about being on pink.

Here's hoping that tomorrow everyone is on green. Or pink.

Easter Fanciness

In their Easter bags this year the boys got new ties and Phoebe got a big flower hair clip. It wasn't until after church when we were in the car on the way to Bryan's grandparents' house that I realized I had failed to take any pictures of us all gussied up. Thankfully, Bryan's brother was willing to snap a few pictures of us while we were there. This is the best one of the whole group.

And this is the best one of me and Bryan, and it's good of Phoebe too. The boys are, well, being themselves.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter!