The Weather is Warming Up

This is what Cooper did when he got off the bus today. Can you tell that he's excited?

After I took the picture, we skipped to the van. Without our jackets on.

It was awesome.

The Apple and the Tree

We made a happy birthday movie for my nephew this week. We sang to him and sent our loudest and jolliest well wishes. Bryan emailed it off to my brother before I had a chance to see it, which was fine, I was just glad it would arrive before his birthday ended.

Tonight I heard back from my brother. He included a screen shot from our little film. With his permission, I'll quote him:

"If lost

please return to larger version of self."

Well what do you know, I guess she does look a little bit like me.

Bi-Pedal

This afternoon as I was explaining to Peter why he needed to be in timeout (personal space and arguing were involved) Phoebe came running over to me and said, "Sophie was standing and not holding onto anything and then she did this!" And then Phoebe showed me a few very tentative steps.

I looked at her, not quite believing what I was hearing. "Do you mean that Sophie just took her first steps while I was over here disciplining Peter?"

Phoebe yelled out excitedly, "Yes!"

I left Peter to his timeout and grabbed my camera on the way into Sophie's realm, otherwise known as the playroom. I helped her stand up and she took a few steps! I turned my camera on to capture Sophie's next few steps into the future.

I tried again, with slightly better results.

I guess you'll just have to trust me: we now have a toddler.

A Different Kind of Bear

Have you heard that the Cub Scout program is changing? The new program is rolling out at the beginning of June. That means that Peter had a choice: he could either wait until June to start working on his Bear, or he could hurry up and do a year of work in a few months' time. According to our local scout leaders, the new program is much more involved. They've encouraged the boys to do the old program if at all possible.

So Peter is working on his Bear. That means that our whole family is working on his Bear.

I'm starting to understand why the parents gets pins when the scout earns their patch.

For the Grandmas: Dance Baby Edition

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

Yesterday was our fifth snow day of the year. We celebrated by doing our normal Saturday chores on Thursday. Yay! Don't worry, it wasn't all drudgery. We also watched movies and read books and played with play-doh and drank hot chocolate. And some of us played in the snow.

Peter was the first one out. It took Cooper and Phoebe another ten minutes to put on all those layers and follow him into the cold. And it was indeed cold. So cold, in fact, that Bryan told them they had ten minutes to play before they needed to come inside.

That seemed to be just enough time. When they came back in they were cold enough that they wanted hot chocolate, but not so cold that their digits were in danger.

Sophie woke up from her nap while the big kids were outside. She was very interested in watching them through the front door, but that's as close as she got to the frozen fun they were having. That's as close as I got too. She and I stayed inside while Bryan bundled up and ventured out for a few minutes.

I do love snow days when we're all together and cozy at home, but I'm ready for the weather to take a turn toward Spring.

Question Nine

I meant to answer question nine last week, but I didn't. I can't remember why at the moment, but I suspect it had to do with exhaustion and a lack of mental alacrity. And so, I will answer question nine during week ten.

What were some of the family traditions that you remember?  Did your family have special ways of celebrating specific holidays?

The major tradition that stands out in my head is Christmas caroling. I have no idea how many times we actually went and stood on the doorsteps of our Primary teachers and Bishopric members, but the memory is so happy that I don't think it matters how frequent it was. We would bring treats of some kind, and we would sing in the car as we drove from house to house, making sure we all sang the same song at the same time. At least once we were invited in for sugary goodies. I've gotten my little family to go caroling a handful of times because I loved going as a child.

On Christmas morning, before any gifts could be opened, we would read the account of the Savior's birth in Luke 2. As kids we loved the presents, but the scriptures helped keep our focus on what was truly important.

Visiting my Grandma Bonnie for General Conference was another tradition. She had a satellite dish, one of those gigantic kinds that look like they're strong enough to communicate with alien life. She would point it toward Utah (or so I assumed as a child) and we would sit in her living room to watch instead of driving to the Stake Center. Someday I'll tell my children this story and they'll marvel that I was a child back in the dark ages before we could watch Conference on our computers and phones and wristwatches.

At the beginning of Thanksgiving dinner we would all say what we were thankful for. I took this for granted and thought that everyone did it. However, when I went to college and ate Thanksgiving with other families, I discovered that was not the case. I like focusing on gratitude. This is another tradition I've carried over into my family.

For the Fourth of July each year we would drag our kitchen chairs out to the edge of our backyard. From our perch near the fence we could see two, and sometimes three, fireworks shows. Once, as a teenager, I went to the beach with friends and watched the big fireworks show out over the Pacific. That was awesome, but I kind of missed sitting with my family while we sang patriotic songs in the dark of our backyard and gazed at the faraway flashes of light and color.

An unspoken tradition was going to church. I know, that doesn't seem like a tradition, does it? But we went every Sunday, barring illness and General Conference. I think attending church as a family is the most consistent thing we did, with family prayer coming in a close second. Now as an adult, the Sabbath is not complete without my church meetings.

Snuggle Buddy

Looking In the Right Places

During my scripture study today I was listening to the March Ensign. As I looked through the titles deciding which article to listen to, one caught my eye: Talking About Tough Topics. While the focus is on how to talk to teenagers about difficult subjects, many of the principles can apply to me and my goal of teaching my children to listen. It turns out maybe some of the problem lies with me.

I'll be working on implementing this guidance for the foreseeable future.

Nobody Knows

I wrote last Thursday's post for two reasons: the first is that I was very tired and staring at my computer screen willing myself to be creative when that question popped into my head; the second is that I truly want to know how to help my kids be better listeners. Now, I haven't had much luck getting answers to previous questions I've posted on here, but I figured I'd try anyway.

The next day I checked for comments. There weren't any, but I noticed something interesting. There were an unusually high number of page views on that post. Throughout the day, and then over the weekend, I watched those page view numbers rise while the comments stayed empty.

I formed some theories.

Then yesterday my friend commented and confirmed my suspicions. She had clicked on the post to see what other people had said. My guess is that some of you may have opened the post, hoping to learn what pearls of wisdom had been left by others. But alas, there was no wisdom to be found.

This is both comforting and unsettling. To me it means that other children are probably like my own, selective listeners. That's the comforting part. But it also means that no one (at least no one that reads this blog) has figured out how to help their kids hear them. I'm not sure who all of my readers are, but I do know that there are several loving, caring, intelligent parents among you. And if you don't know how to help them listen, how on earth am I going to figure it out?

Bryan came up with a plan on Saturday. He walked into the room where the kids were watching a movie with a small baggie of jelly beans in his hand. He said in a normal volume, "If you can hear me, say yes." Peter was the only one who responded, which meant he was the only one who was given a jelly bean. The other two were suddenly paying attention. Since my children will do almost anything for sugar, the experiment started out well. They hopped up to listen and obey for the promise of one of those colorful little treats.

It was around this point that I left to attend a luncheon given by someone in the ward. Something must have happened while I was gone because when I came back some of the children were in timeout and Bryan had eaten most of the jelly beans himself.

I can deal with the lack of listening while we're at home, and since it's been so cold we really haven't been venturing many places. I'm worried about when the weather warms up. The last time we went to the park, Cooper, who is arguably my best listener, just wandered off into the woods. I had to leave Phoebe in the care of Peter (which is terrifying) as Sophie and I went after Cooper, all the while praying that none of us would meet a bear. This is just an example of why the Let's Ignore Mom game fills me with dread.

My biggest concern is that if they can't listen to me, how are they going to learn how to listen to the Holy Ghost?