The Team

We had another crazy Tuesday, this one included Peter's last home game. While there I had this conversation with Sophie:

Sophie: When I'm big I'm going to be on a volleyball team.

Me: Oh?

Sophie: Yeah, and my team? We're gonna WIN! And Zalie wants to be on my team. And we will be called The Princess Team!

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

You guys! Topher reached an exciting surprise milestone! Curious?

When we hand him a board book, he looks at the pages instead of trying to eat them! Until this last week he preferred to gnaw on the spines, with some occasional page turning thrown in for good measure.

This is a big day.

Family Time

Our staycation spring break ended when the kids went back to school on Tuesday. Remember I said we all chose one family activity? Here's what we did:

Bryan chose a movie marathon and we watched them over the four days. Sophie picked the Princess and the Frog, Phoebe picked Flushed Away, Cooper picker The Neverending Story, Peter picked Ant-Man, and Bryan and I shared our turn and picked The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

I chose everyone making individual pizzas for dinner one night. That was fun and delicious.

Peter and Cooper both chose playing Minecraft together, so Bryan and the four older kids did that one day while I was feeding Topher.

Phoebe chose a MarioKart tournament. Bryan did the same thing for MarioKart that he did for Minecraft.

Sophie's activity was on the last day and the kids were all shocked that we said yes. She wanted an ice cream party, so we had ice cream sundaes and banana splits for dinner on Monday night. It was awesome and a little gross.

The best part about our break was that it was pretty calm. We worked to get everyone's activity in, but we weren't stressing about being anywhere (except for church on Sunday) or getting much else done. I think we really had a great break.

Over the Net

Peter has about two weeks left of volleyball. He's really enjoyed being on a team and learned a lot. He's also improved as a player. Some games are better than others, but at least he gets to play. We went to a home game yesterday. I was holding a wiggly Topher and sitting next to an active Sophie, but I managed to get this blurry shot of Peter serving the ball.

Serving is his strength. I added some information directly to the picture, just so you can tell what you're looking at.

Photo Bomb

The Outtakes

When we took our family pictures on Sunday after church I kept saying that I loved those trees as a background, but I didn't like that we were standing on a slope. I like to look at pictures and see how everyone is growing, but if we're on a hill that's not an accurate representation of height. So after we'd taken many, many, many regular pictures, Bryan had a few of us switch places. That's not exactly accurate either, though Peter looks pleased with the arrangement.

The kids had been begging for a silly picture, so we obliged. I had no idea what pose Bryan had picked until I looked through the pictures on Sunday night. I think it's hilarious.

Easter Celebration

We had a full Easter. Most of us sang with the choir, the three middle kids helped sing a musical number for Gospel Doctrine and sang with the Primary in Sacrament Meeting, and Bryan and I both taught during the second hour. After church we stayed in our nice clothes a little longer than usual and took some pictures. Then we had an indoor egg hunt and a delicious dinner.

We also spent the week before Easter studying the last week of the Savior's life. It was a wonderful way to focus on why Easter is so important. I am so thankful for the love that the Savior has for each of us. I know that He lives and I love Him.

Happy Easter!

House Party

We had grand plans for our first full day of spring break. Bryan took the day off from work and we aimed to have an adventure at a large museum and maybe even visit a family fun center. While Bryan and I worked out the details last night he said something about the alarming number of measles cases, including a large cluster not that far from where we live, and we both fell silent for a moment.

Due to all the illnesses he's had over the last few months, Topher's immune system is currently pretty poor. He's on antibiotics for an ear infection and I suspect he also had a sinus infection based on how much he improved once he started the medicine. He's a prime candidate to catch something as infectious as measles and he can't be immunized until his birthday next month. We both thought about how many people he could come in contact with at the places we planned to go.

I said a quick prayer asking if we should change our plans. We had told the kids that we would be going somewhere fun today and we knew they would be sad if that didn't happen. But we also felt strongly that we needed to wait until Topher was better protected. After some discussion, we came up with an alternative.

This morning we gathered the kids and explained why we weren't going on an adventure. They were surprisingly understanding. We presented our new plan and they all got really excited.

What are we doing instead? We listed several fun things that we could do at home as a family and everyone chose one thing. Today we all worked hard to get the house "Saturday clean," then we relaxed and played and ended the day with my activity of choice and part of Bryan's.

Bryan wanted to have a movie marathon over the weekend and have each person pick a movie for us to watch together. Sophie went first and we watched The Princess and the Frog tonight. I decided I wanted us to make our own personal pizzas for dinner. I made enough pizza dough for three big pizzas, then gave each of the kids enough for half a pizza to knead and toss and shape and adorn. We had lots of fun and the pizza was delicious!

Here are our pizza chefs, hard at work.

Topher didn't make his own pizza, but he did feed himself a cut-up banana, so that's something.

The girls both opted to make heart-shaped pizzas. Sophie was adventurous and put olives and pickles on her pizza. We thought the pickles would be gross, but it turned out that she loved the pickles but didn't care for the olives. Peter made a pizza shaped like pants (I don't know why) and Cooper shaped his like a light bulb, but I don't have pictures of either.

We have more stay-cation goodness planned for tomorrow!

On Holiday

We are officially on Spring Break, which in our case is simply a glorified four-day weekend. We'll take what we can get. We celebrated by having piano lessons right after school and then coming home to do chores and eat leftovers. I know, we're party animals.

One highlight of the day was playing in the backyard of our piano teacher. The girls loved taking turns on the trampoline and Topher thought it was hilarious to watch them bounce.

Bright Eyes

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Phoebe's birthday is several months away, but that hasn't stopped her from making a gift request. Are you curious to know what Phoebe is pining for?

A ventriloquist dummy.

Yup.

She's said that she's saving her money to buy one, just in case we don't come through on her birthday. For now she practices enunciating with her teeth clenched tight and her mouth in a large smile while carrying and giving voice to a tiger puppet she has.

Of all the hobbies out there, I did not anticipate this one...

Happiness

Sophie spoke in Primary yesterday. Her topic was "something she learned from Come, Follow Me or from General Conference." She chose the latter. She told me which talk she wanted to use, then we watched it a few times to review it. She and I sat down at the computer on Sunday morning and I asked her some questions about what she wanted to say. I wrote down her answers with a little editing for cohesiveness.

Happiness

In General Conference last week, Sister Becky Craven told a story. She said she walked by a window that said, “Happiness, $15.” She was so curious that she went to look inside. All she found was cheap trinkets and toys and souvenirs, not one thing could possibly make that kind of happiness that she was looking for.

So what does make us happy? Heavenly Father is always near us. We have parents that play with us and love us. Jesus died for us so we can live with him again. The Holy Ghost helps us feel the Gospel.

John 14:15 says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” That means that if we love Jesus, we will keep his commandments. That means we’ll follow what he wants us to do. This will help us to be happy.

Jesus always, always loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Business of Play

 

The Conference Report

This past weekend was something I look forward to every six months, General Conference. I watched nearly all five sessions (I missed part of the Priesthood session doing bedtime stuff) and am looking forward to diving back in to listen to the talks again.

As always, there were certain talks that really stood out to me. Here are the top seven in no particular order:

• Careful Versus Casual by Becky Craven (Peter and Cooper said this was their favorite too.)
• A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells by Henry B. Eyring (This talk was a direct answer to prayer.)
• Behold the Lamb of God by Jeffrey R. Holland
• Abound With Blessings by Dale G. Renlund
• "Come, Follow Me" by President Russell M. Nelson
• Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles by Juan Pablo Villar
• Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness by Sharon L. Eubank

I tried to make that a top five list and couldn't. There were several others talks that I enjoyed and learned from as well. And the music, which is always gorgeous, was stunning. The kids did a great job on Saturday and even shushed each other a few times so they could hear the talks. Sunday was a little rougher, but we made it.

There were a few unexpected moments of humor from things the kids said during Conference. I took notes.

Sophie: What's his name?
Me: President Eyring.
Sophie: President Irony? He's my favorite.

"Wow, he's young".-Peter, looking at Ryan Murphy, the Associate Music Director of The Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square.
"Does he even age?!" -Cooper, right after Peter.

"Key change!" -Sophie, every time there was a key change in any of the songs.

"I don't have a wife. What should I do about that?" -Cooper, after hearing President Nelson talk about Priesthood holders treating their wives well.

I'm so thankful for General Conference. I love the spiritual uplift it gives and the peace it brings into our home.

Trio

Sophie and I played a singing game yesterday during lunch. I would sing a note, then she would sing a harmonizing note. Then she would work to hold the note and I would sing a different note to harmonize with her. That may not sound like a fun game, but we had a grand time.

Then Topher joined in on the fun and matched my pitch! He did it a handful of times, which was amazing. He was just as delighted by it as we were and laughed and grinned when he saw our looks of surprise.

It was a fun lunch.

Artist Party

The girls went to a Rapunzel/painting birthday party last week. The main activity was an art lesson taught by the art teacher from Cooper's school. There were twenty-four kids of varying ages and abilities all trying to paint the same picture.

This was the inspiration painting.

I did my best to document the process.

After the painting, Rapunzel showed up to sing to and sprinkle glitter on the kids. So much glitter.

Here are the final products from the art lesson. The girls proudly hung them on their bedroom walls. I love that they each put their own spin on the assignment.

Dress For the Job You Want

Bipedal

Guess who took a few steps all by himself today! I'll give you a hint, it's the same person that isn't quite eleven-months-old and won't sleep in his own bed for more than a few minutes at a time tonight.

Everyone was delighted, including him!

Hand in Hand

Young Men (for Peter), Boy Scouts (for Peter and Cooper), Cub Scouts (for me), and Activity Days (for Phoebe) all take place at the same time, which makes Wednesdays late nights for us. After we get home the boys inevitably want a snack and sometimes have homework to finish. It was nearly 9:30 when the boys finally fell into bed last night.

Usually Bryan does bedtime while I take care of Topher, and sometimes I'll take care of the girls routine and maybe even Cooper's if Bryan is working late, but I rarely tuck Peter in. Last night though, Topher was asleep when we got home so I tucked the big boys in.

When I do bedtime with the three middles I have them pick a song, then I hold their hand and sit on the edge of their bed while I sing to them. I did that for Cooper last night, he asked for Hush Little Baby, or the mockingbird song as he calls it, his usual choice. Then I asked Peter the same question. He asked for the moon song, I Don't Want to Live on the Moon from Sesame Street, his favorite from when he was small. I settled down on the edge of his bed and started singing.

That's when something unexpected happened. As I sat, holding his hand, I had a flashback to when Peter was still an only child. When he was a one-year-old he and I took many walks through the Provo neighborhoods around our apartment, his small chubby hand in mine. Then I came back to the present, singing the song I'd sung so many times before, his hand in mine. Except now, my hand is the small one. Tears filled my eyes and I had to slow down the song a few times to keep my emotions from over powering the singing.

When I finished Peter said he was glad he wasn't a typical teenager who was too cool to hug his mom, then he gave me a big hug.

Oh Peter, I'm glad too.

Delayed Response

Sophie is strong. She's so strong that she's often rougher than she intends. She's also what might be termed a helicopter sister. She hovers over Topher to the point that the poor boy can't move around to play. I think most of my time these days is spent telling her to give him space and let me be the mom. Unfortunately, some of this hovering and roughness combine and Topher ends up the recipient.

Sophie usually sits next to Topher in the van, while Phoebe and Cooper sit in the back row. Yesterday morning as we waited for the school bus to arrive, after another burst of aggressive affection from Sophie, I told her that she and Phoebe were switching seats in the van so she would no longer be within reach of Topher. She was visibly distraught and pleaded for another chance. I reminded her that she had several chances each day. If she wanted to sit by Topher then she would need to be gentle with him.

Her reply? She took a deep breath, calmed her tears, then said, "I'll be gentle to Topher. Starting tomorrow."

The Swing of It

The Living Bread

One of the perks of being in a small ward is that our kids often get the opportunity to write talks and speak in Primary. Phoebe had one of those chances yesterday. Her assigned topic was "Something you learned from Come Follow Me this week," which ended up being very stressful for her. We talked through lots of different options, but ultimately she figured out her topic from reading the chapters of scripture for the week. She wrote ninety-seven percent of this talk, I did marginal editing and some suggesting. And Peter typed some of it up for her, which I thought was very sweet.

Oh, and she did a fantastic job delivering it. The very rowdy Primary kids calmed right down and listened to her.

Jesus is the living bread.

In John chapter 6 we read about the feeding of the 5 thousand. One day Jesus was walking and five thousand men, not counting the women and the children, came to him because of the miracles they had seen him do. Jesus asked his Apostle Philip where they could buy bread for these people to eat?

John verse 7 says, Philip answered him, two hundred Pennies worth of bread is not sufficient for them for every one of them will only take a little. That means they didn't have enough money to buy food for everyone. And another Apostle, Andrew, said there is a little boy here who has five loaves of bread and two fishes. But they are so little among so many. And Jesus said make the men sit down and there was lots of grass for the men to sit on and they sat. And the disciples brought the bread and fish to him and after he had given thanks and blessed the bread and the fish he gave it to his disciples who gave it to the men. And they ate and were filled. And Jesus said to his disciples gather up the fragments so that they will not be lost. And the next day the five thousand found him again and they wanted him to feed them again. John chapter 6 verse 35 says And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger: and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. That means if we follow Jesus we will be blessed and if we believe in Jesus we will be blessed even more. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.