New Fresh Scent

As we approached the new year, Bryan and I discussed what we could do to help our household be more peaceful. This is a continual struggle when there are six full-volumed, strong-willed, larger-than-life people living under one roof. One of the conclusions we came to was that both boys are big enough to do their own laundry, from start to finish.

Doing the laundry for only four people has lightened my load considerably. Phoebe still needs to fold her own clothes, but I wash and dry it. The boys, however, aren't taking to it quite as well as I. They each have worn dirty clothes to school at least one day in the last two weeks, simply because they forgot to wash their laundry.

On Saturday one of them started a load shortly before bedtime. We all promptly forgot about it until I wanted to wash my own clothes this afternoon. I opened the lid to see the now-dry clothes sitting at the bottom of the washer. Surveying who they belonged to, I called Cooper to join me. I began explaining why they would need to be rewashed, when Cooper leaned into the open machine and took a big wiff.

"Smells like cheese," he said.

Sometimes parenting moments are big and powerful. And sometimes they're as simple as teaching your child that their clean laundry should not smell like cheese.

"Smile Sophie!"

Morning Bells are Ringing

My alarm sounded at 5AM yesterday and Bryan and I pulled ourselves out of bed. He had an early meeting he needed to get to and I wanted to exercise before the kids got up. I finished my two miles on the rowing machine just as he was headed out. That's when I heard Peter's voice in the hall. He stumbled into our room, saying he'd had a bad dream.

While I listened to Peter recount his nightmare, my phone rang. Do you know who calls at 5:46 in the morning? The school, announcing a two-hour-delay to the start of school due to freezing rain. I had momentary dreams of going back to sleep for a few hours, then Phoebe walked in. Her room is over the garage and she woke when it opened.

So, now I had two children awake. I snuggled with both of them, hoping that they would drift off to sleep. I'll give you a few minutes to stop laughing, since we all know that of course my children wouldn't go back to sleep. Cooper was up by 6:15. None of these kids wake up willingly that early on their own. On days when school starts at the normal time they fuss and fight and want more sleep.

Maybe it really comes down to a question of priorities. Given two extra hours at home, my priority is sleep. But the kids? Their priorities are reading (Cooper), playing (Phoebe), and watching a movie (Peter). When Sophie woke up an hour later, she participated in all three activities. And guess what? I let myself snooze while the kids took care of themselves. I almost never do that. It was kind of awesome. And thanks to the exercise and extra sleep, I felt much more human.

Two-hour-delays for the win!

Bling For All

Phoebe loves making jewelry. She was given a bracelet-making kit for her birthday and prior to that had a collection of beads and elastic courtesy of Dollar Tree. While she occasionally adds to her own collection, more often she can be found stringing sparkly plastic pieces for someone else. Her Kindergarten teacher was a recipient, followed by several members of her class. At the rate she's going, every girl in her grade will have a Phoebe original before the year is out.

I love that her inclination is to be generous. She gets that from Bryan and they're good examples for me to follow.

Bundling Up

The Sophie Show

After missing church last week due to illness, Sophie had her first official day of Primary yesterday. I happened to be teaching the class behind her, so I had a great view of the show. It took a bit of convincing that she should stay with her class and not join mine, and at one point I realized that she had gone to explore the back of the room, but she was quickly redirected.

Every time the music director led us in a song, Sophie hopped up to join her. Our girl led the music and sang nearly all the songs for us, and she even knew most of the words. Her teacher tried in vain a few times to convince Sophie that she should stay in her seat, then she gave up. I also kept motioning for Sophie to sit down, though I was wrangling my own class, so I couldn't do much more than smile and point emphatically. Following Sophie's lead, one of her classmates kept popping up as well.

After church I asked Sophie what she thought of Primary. "Good! We were in a different room. And we ate crackers!"

Sharing

During the Christmas break Bryan caught a terrible cold. Sophie got it next and it became croup. The two of them stayed home from church on Sunday so as not to spread germs. They're both still coughing and dragging a bit, but beginning to feel better.

Guess who's turn it is now?

I tucked myself into bed at about 8 o'cock last night. I didn't go to sleep then, but I was in pajamas and under the covers. My head hurts and my eyes and nose are drippy and I hope I have no need to perform complex math problems for the next few days because I think this virus has short-circuited my ability to think. I am very thankful that it's nearly the weekend and that Bryan will be here to help.

From Cub to Boy

Peter had a birthday recently, and before that birthday happened, he worked very hard to finish his Webelos and Arrow of Light badges. Those required five electives between them. He earned an additional eight electives, for a grand total of thirteen. Considering a month ago we weren't sure that he would be getting anything, this is a very big deal.

Last night Peter attended his last official Cub Scout Pack Meeting and received his awards.

Here he is, crossing the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. That's his new scout leader and the only other eleven-year-old scout in our ward, waiting for him on the other side. I got kind of choked up at this moment.

Peter, fidgeting with all those new pins he earned.

All thirteen pins. Clockwise from the top left, they are Maestro, Art Explosion, Moviemaking, Adventures in Science, Project Family, Looking Back Looking Forward, Aware and Care, Build It, Engineer, Build My Own Hero, Game Design, Fix It, and Sportsman. There are only eighteen electives possible for Webelos.

We are so pleased that Peter decided to work hard and earn these. He's excited to now become a Boy Scout. Well done Peter!

Soft and Dry

See this face?

This is the face of a girl who wore underwear all day yesterday. It's also the face of a girl who had no accidents at all. I have no idea if tomorrow will be as successful, but I have my fingers crossed.

The Pink Ninjas