Mason's Persistence

Mason is persistent. He does not take no for an answer. This morning I went downstairs to work on my Econometrics homework. Mason had concentration set up on the floor.

Mason: I want to play concentration with you, Dad.

Me: Sorry, Mason, I have to work on my math homework this morning.

Mason: Well, which one do you choose.

Me: No, Mason, I can't play.

Mason: Okay, just tell me which one you want to pick.

Me: No, you don't understand; I can't play at all.

Mason: Well, do you want to pick the top corner or bottom corner.

Me: No, Mason, I can't play.

As I was walking upstairs to get something, he shouted after me, "Dad, you got a dog [referring to the concentration piece he picked for me!]".

Sekrit medinge

Yesterday I proclaimed the rest of the week a holiday. All I required of the kids was to not make any messes. You can laugh now. Anyhow.

This morning the kids wanted to have a "secret meeting". This, as the name suggests, involves finding a secret place to have a meeting, with only the kids invited. They love having these.

First they set up shop under Sammy's bed, in a fort they made there a couple of days ago. Unfortunately for them, it was Lincoln's nap time, so they got kicked out of the room. So they moved into my room, and were planning and scheming and running up and down the stairs for at least an hour and a half. It was so fun to hear them giggling and to not see them sneaking past me.

They made signs saying "sekrit medinge" and posted them all over the house, with arrows pointing in the direction of the meeting location. They placed them low on the wall so that Stephen and I couldn't find out where the meeting was being held, because, after all, it was "sekrit"!

I don't think they ever actually had the secret meeting, but boy did they ever have fun planning it!

Christmas list

This morning I asked the kids what they want for Christmas. It came about because we watched part of the the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the PC this morning. As a consequence of that, the kiddos saw about 30 commercials (did you know that the average US child will see some 40,000 commercials in a year?). Which made Stephen and I curious--what kinds of things did our kids want for Christmas?

Mason: A laser, a sensor, a circuit board with holes and all the little circuit chips that go on the circuit board. And a soldering iron and some soldering wire and a transformer.

Stephen: What is a transformer?

Mason: With electricity, it actually makes more or less electricity. It's programmed. And I want a plug-in--the pokey part, and the part that you plug it in. And a motor. And I want a microphone.

Me: Why?

Mason: Because I want to hook it up all by myself and I can sing in it. Ah-ah-ah-ah. And the part that a battery can go in--the 9-volt connection thing. And the part that the negative side and the positive side go in. And the connection part between the drill battery and the drill. I also want my own drill. And a connection to a car battery, so I can use that much power. I was thinking a treble gear.

Me: What's that?

Mason: If the treble gear is going fast, it makes a different gear go slow. And a different kind of gear, like this. (He gestures with his hands and explains some other type of gear)

Elise: I want 2,000 books. I want a sister. And more Polly Pockets and pop beads. I want my own phone.

Me: Why?

Elise: Because then I can call people...maybe...if Mom lets me. I want to know Mom's password on her computer. That's all.

Sammy: I want my own real froggy. And I also want my own sled with little persons for Christmas. Little persons to go in the sled.

And there you have it.

Confessions

When Stephen is gone on weekends I like to do a little retail therapy.

I go to the thrift store, baby.

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My feet are always cold. I wear socks and slippers all day, and still, at the end of the day I crawl into bed and Stephen has to deal with the ice cubes that are my feet.

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I used to get very angry when something would wake me up in the night. A child with a scary dream...a nursing baby...a wet bed...Stephen snoring or stealing all the covers...

Only since the last bit of my pregnancy with Lincoln have I changed. I think I finally resigned myself to the fact that I'm just not going to sleep through the night for the next 20 years. And I think I'm okay with that.

Just don't mess with me during quiet time!!

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I'm not a patient person.

So often, when people learn that I homeschool, I hear, "I could never homeschool--I just don't have the patience!"

Welcome to the club, sister, welcome to the club.

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I am no good at finishing projects. I am pretty good at getting motivated enough to start things, which often leaves my poor husband to do the finishing.

For example, I have two quilt tops all ready to sew together. Really, all I need to do is sew the strips of strips together. I have the batting and backing and binding...one is from the first year of the MBA program, the other from the second.

You, like my husband, might ask why I started a second quilt when I hadn't finished the first.

I'll tell you what I told him:

I have no idea.

Random

At 7am this morning, Mason came upstairs and announced, "I just cleaned the toilet!" A little later Elise came up and asked for a clean rag so that she could shine the faucet--she had cleaned the sink and countertop.

My husband is to be congratulated.

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My mom came to visit last week (hooray for moms coming to visit!!). It was wonderful. One day she succeeded in cleaning up the downstairs and the kids had a wonderful time doing it AND were happy afterwards. This is a feat I have yet to accomplish. How did she do it, you ask? By telling them she didn't want them to do it. 

"Now, whatever you do, don't pick up all the crayons scattered all over the floor and put them in their container."

"What?! You did that? Well, at least you didn't put them in the stripey closet. Wait! What are you doing putting those away? You naughty children--you don't listen to a word I say!"

Etc., etc.

The kids are having a wonderful time doing things I don't want them to do today. Like not putting away their laundry...or cleaning up the family room...or unloading the dishwasher, clearing the table, vacuuming and taking care of Lincoln. What naughty children I have! :o)

Stephen claims I like the game because I can be sarcastic with no one knowing it. There is something to that.

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Lincoln's 4th tooth made an appearance a few days ago. Two more will soon be following. He's a cute little side-step walker--he's got to be too little to be walking!!

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Around midnight last night there were 6 police cars outside our house with 2 police dogs. I think there was a domestic dispute down the road. 

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At the end of the very fun don't-do-what-I-tell-you game, my mom confided in me that sometimes she and Dad had to ban that game. I can understand the reasoning behind that now...so, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and not help my children...

Blast from the past

My mom sent me an email that I wrote back on March 11, 2007...and for history's sake, I'm putting it on my blog!


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I had the most wonderful primary music time today. We're learning "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" this month, but the kids mostly know it, so really we're just reviewing it. Anyhow, I have been thinking all week about what I was going to do with the kids, and yesterday the thought came to me that I should call all the parents and find out nice things that their kids had done over the week. So I did that this morning, and got quite a list! I told the kids (anonymously) about some of the different acts of service, then sang the chorus, then told them more of the acts of service, then had them sing the chorus with me. Then we went over the words for the verse, and when we put it all together, I completely lost it. They started singing, "I'm trying to be like Jesus,  I'm following in His ways..." and I started weeping. I have NEVER felt the Spirit so strongly as when those little 3-8 year olds sang that song and believed it, and live it. Kids and music is a pretty powerful combination!


Another Sabbath story...this morning I was printing something off on the computer and noticed that it was 10 am. Our church starts at 11 am, so I fed Sammy and asked Elise to get her shoes on when I was done. Stephen looked at me quizzically and, pointing to our wall clock, said it was only 9:30. Great! More time! We sang hymns and finished getting ready to go, and were out the door by 10:40. Perfect. When we got to church the parking lot was completely full, so we figured the previous ward was having ward conference. When we walked in the building we heard a voice from the pulpit, which was weird because we were 10 minutes early. Then we saw our friend Paul in the hall with his little boy. That's when it hit me - Paul is never early...daylight savings time!!! 


To make the story better, I was supposed to give the opening prayer! And to make it even better, Mason and Elise just ran right into the meeting. Stephen was able to find Elise quickly, but Mason ran to the front of the chapel. Stephen followed after a few minutes, but couldn't find him anywhere. The bishopric had lost sight of him, but fortunately another astute ward member pointed to the opposite side of the chapel from where Stephen was, and sure enough, there was Mason sitting on the front pew on the opposite side of the chapel. Poor Stephen! He retrieved Mason and retreated to the hall. He did go back in and say the closing prayer...boy, was I embarrassed! Our computer updates automatically, but not our wall clocks! :o) 


In family scripture study we just read Alma 33. Elise was very attentive on this particular night as we explained the different places the prophets said we could pray. For example, Zenos says, "And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me." The next morning Elise came out of her room, and as she passed by me in the kitchen whispered, "I just prayed in my closet." and walked on. I'm so glad she is paying attention to the scriptures! She is very into treasure hunts right now, and the other day explained to Mason what the treasure would be, "The treasure would be something beautiful, or handsome, or something that President Hinckley said. Or a paper doll." I love it!


Mason's latest phrase is, "Won't do it anymore again." And he sure tries to not do it, be it spitting, dropping Sammy or dumping toys out. At least for a little while. :o) He and Elise are in a really fun dance class, and we "Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck" all over the city! He's into snuggling right now, which is great if it's not way past bedtime...which is usually when he thinks of doing it! His momma ain't raisin' no dummies! Smart kid, that one!


Sammy likes to blow (or at least chew on) Mason's train whistle, much to Mason's consternation. He also likes to empty drawers and find treasures in the trash can. What a fun age! He'll be one on the 27th, and I can hardly believe it! He'll be walking any day now, and will soon be able to keep up with Elise and Mason running up and down the hall. He gets so frustrated when they run one way, and he follows, only to have them run by him going the other direction. So he follows again...and finally finds something else to do. Like play the piano. He loves music, and has a cute little dance. Woohoo!


I made it on 3 runs this week! Yay! And I'm almost not sick anymore! Yay! And the kids are almost not sick anymore! Yay! That means I'll (maybe) get more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep one of these nights! YAY!!!!!! I also FINALLY finished Sammy's curtains. Loving my new sewing machine! :o) :o) Now I just need to make Elise a new skirt that I can't see through...she still wears one I made for her 3 years ago, and it's a mite bit threadbare!


Okay, this is way too long...see you all later (or sooner!)


Love,


Claire, et. al.


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Living room fun

Sammy's thumb

Lincoln X

First off I have to say how much we love Lincoln's name--really, how many kids are out there who have an X in their name?

Anyhow.

My Lincoln has such a fun-loving personality! He is so playful! One of his favorite things to do (besides eat and eat and eat) is to wrestle. Any time anyone lies on the ground he puts his head down and charges them. He attacks pillows left on the ground and gets a little twinkle in his eye when the other kids roll around. He doesn't like to be left out--from playing outside and wrestling to playing the piano and jabbering.

He has 3 teeth (one on top, two on bottom) and took a step all on his own last night. I have no doubt he'll soon be chasing the other kids all over the place. His growth has been similar to Elise & Sammy's--he was quite a chubby baby, but leveled out at about 6 months. Now he is on the small end of the growth chart.

He's fallen down the stairs twice, and now will just sit at the top and cry if he wants to go down--no more falls for him!! He only sleeps in his crib, which is nice, unless it is Sunday when church inevitably falls during nap time. He's mostly sleeping through the night, which makes life much more pleasant, and nurses 4-5 times every day.

His red hair is starting to get longer, but like with my other boys, I don't plan on cutting it any time soon. Throw in his blue eyes, dimples and mischievous grin and I've got one cute kid!!

Sammy G

This morning I told Sammy that our dentist-in-training friend said that age 4 is a good age to stop thumb sucking, because much of the damage caused by thumb sucking can fix itself if stopped about now. Sammy thought that sounded like a good idea, so decided to put tape on his thumb today. He just came to me and asked where the tape was--apparently his tape from this morning is falling off.

That is so Sammy! My responsible little 4-year-old!