Monday, September 28, 2009

Bodily Functions

The other night at dinner Nathan and Jack were repeatedly making gross body noises in typical boy fashion. I finally said "the next boy to make a bodily function noise is going up to his bed." They asked what a "bodily function noise" is and I explained that I meant burping or farting. The minute I finished saying this Dallen let one rip-a big one!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Happiness


Nathan drew a cute little picture of him and me with a heart between us that said "I love mommy, she loves me, we are a happy family." My favorite part was the big thing sticking up from my head that was supposed to be a ponytail.

But I gotta say, for the past month Josh and I have been really focusing on seeking out the positive in our lives-looking for what is right about a situation, not what has gone wrong. Looking for what the kids did well, instead of what they lack, and making sure to tell them. Seeing what is good in our lives instead of what we are missing. And now we are a really happy family.

I am shocked by the amount of happiness that has filled our home since we started this. Sure the boys still fight and whine, but we let it roll off our backs and tell them what we appreciate about them and the tone of our house is completely different than it was just over a month ago.

Nathan is no longer whining and complaining about his life-instead he is helping out around the house, being a great big brother, and I think he knows we are proud of him. Jack is making better choices and Dal, well, he still whines a lot but he is thrilled to be a part of this family-especially when his big brothers play games like naked superhero with him (yes, that really is a game they play-post bath-with their hooded towels on). Anyway, life is good at our house when we all seek out what is right, find Joy in the Journey or Be of Good Cheer.

That and reading the scriptures first thing in the morning...Josh and I have made a deal with each other to do that and wow-what a difference.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Fiesta!

Tonight at Nathan's school there was a Family Fiesta-just a free event that involved traditional Mexican dancing and then the kids making a puppet. Never would I have guessed the sheer enjoyment that would come from this night...

After watching several traditional dances involving lots of neat stomping in shoes that made nice clicking sounds (by men and women) and waving of large and fancy dresses and fans (by just the women), they asked if any kids would like to come up and try dancing too. I was sitting next to Nathan at this point and Jack was across the cafeteria with Josh. I asked Nathan if he wanted to go dance and he said no.

We watched as several little girls rushed to the "stage" to dance. And then, I caught a glimpse of a little boy-a wiry and small little boy in gray shorts and a gray shirt-up there with the girls. Wait! That's my Jack!!

And there he stood, among all the girls as the lady lead them in toe taps and foot stomps and spins-looking both awkward and adorable at the same time. He even did some of the dances when he wasn't busy rolling his shirt up so that everyone could see his belly or ahem-scratching himself.

At one point I counted 13 girls up there-and Jack. He kept glancing over at me with a sweet and shy look on his face and when he was done I have him a big high five and told him I never knew what a great dancer he was. It was at that point that Nathan announced he wished he too had gone up to dance.

You just never know what to expect from Jack. Never would I have guessed that he would get up on stage all alone (meaning without Nathan by his side) to "dance" in front of a crowd of onlookers. It was the highlight of my week.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Don't you wish YOU had married Josh

Sorry girls-I already got him.

Last night I got home from a 2 day trip to Las Vegas for a trade show for my business. Josh stayed home with the boys those two days (which I think was his first time spending several full days with them?). I was sitting on the couch trying to catch up on business emails and Josh was mysteriously sitting on the next couch over typing away but not telling me what he was doing. Then I got this email: (he was literally creating this poem at that moment-amazing!)

You left to go to Vegas, and I thought I would be fine;
That it would be a breeze attending to each little whine.
“To stay at home,” I thought, “now really, how hard could it be?”
“Two days of this? Ha, ha,” I said, “I’m good for it! You’ll see!!”

I cook, I clean, I kiss, I wipe, I pour and wipe some more
Then wonder if I’ll ever get that syrup off the floor.
I shop with Dal, my Costco pal, drop off and pick up Jack,
Then wait for Nate’s knock at the gate, then fix them all a snack.

Prepare some soup, wipe up some poop, Jack calls the soup disgusting,
While Natey stuffs his face with breadsticks ‘til his tummy’s busting.
Then all three boys, while making noise, help make some gingerbread
Then fast bath, scriptures, prayer and story, then it’s off to bed.

I’m tired like I’ve never been, can’t get myself to clean.
Instead I sit and read, and try to think thoughts that aren’t mean.
Then up again at 6 am, and do it all once more,
And try my best to keep the mess from staining every floor.

I can’t believe how much you do. I am so aback taken.
On top of all, you run a business, bringing home the bacon.
What can I do to prove my admiration is not fake?
I think it’s finally time you took a nice long hard-earned break!

(To Madison, WI, Wednesday Nov 18-Sunday Nov 22)

He is sending me to Madison to see all my favorite girls!!!! I get to go to Book Club, the New Moon movie, church in my old ward, etc. and I can't wait! I didn't realize how badly I wanted to visit everyone until he did this for me and I now I am just so excited.

Love you Josh!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Superman

When Jack grows up he is going to be Superman. No seriously-just ask him. He genuinely believes this. We have conversations everyday about the things he will do when he is Superman, if I will still be alive when he is Superman, who he will protect when he is Superman. I love the sweet innocence that makes him still dream that anything is possible-anything. I wish that innocence would never leave, but of course it has to. But he will always be my Superman. :)

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Happiness is...

Jack snuggles during church each week. He is my snuggly kid, but still, I admit, I thought that my Jack snuggle days in church would be long gone by now, but nope. He will still sit on my lap, pull his shirt up and ask for a back scratch. Today after he had been snuggling me for about 20 minutes I felt something wet and slimy slide down my arm. He was asleep and drooling!

12 days with no Josh

I just have to document for my own sake that Josh was gone during the month of August for 12 days! 12 days of just me and the kids! (Well, for the first 3 we had our friends visiting.)

I thought it would be horrible. I thought I would be so worn down that I would be a bad mom, but for some reason, probably the grace of God, things went amazing. Better than most normal weeks when we are all together. The boys were well behaved and helpful, somehow I had the strength and energy to get through it (although I admit I was tired by the time he came home), and we were happy. Weird.

Role Reversals

I am a lover of football only in one sense of the word-Cougar football. I don't care a lick for the NFL and I don't really care to watch a college game unless my Cougs are playing, but give me a BYU game on a Sat. afternoon and I am a happy camper.

Unfortunately since I don't live in Utah Valley (yet?...) and we don't have cable, I am never able to watch any of the games. I just turn on KSL radio and listen in. About 5 minutes before the start of yesterday's game I discovered a blessed thing-ESPN 360. I can actually watch the games that ESPN is covering on my computer in my home! And luckily BYU is ranked this year which means ESPN will be covering many of their game. Yes, I was a happy camper.

The best part though? I had all three of my boys crowded around me on the bed watching the game. It was fun to explain to them "now the team in the white shirts (the good guys) needs to get from that blue line to the yellow line and they have 4 tries to do it." They got so into it (well, for at least 20 minutes anyway), that after the game was over they went outside and creating their own version of football which involved throwing a basketball, running bases and going in a penalty box. And Nathan slept in blue and white. He has been instructed that red equals bad, no matter what Grandpa P. says. :)

Here's my boys watching with me:
And what was Josh doing during the game you ask? Cleaning the house and cooking dinner. Does this seem backwards?

Crazy and Cute

I was looking through the pictures on my camera a few days ago and it struck me that they were all just random pictures of my boys being their cute and crazy selves-no major events (other than Jack starting preschool I guess) and no real reason for the pictures, just them having fun and being cute.

First we have Nathan who is always up to something-not something bad, just some big idea. Here he is with the creation he built one night in the backyard. I can't remember what it was but it involved a GPS inside and any number of gadgets. He insisted that I leave it up until Josh got home several days later:
And this is just one example of Nathan's many, many costumes that he puts on. I don't even know what he was being here:
Here is cutie Jack on his first day of preschool. I told him to hold his school box (notice that it is pink-his choice of course) for the picture so he held it up right by his face. He loves preschool so far!
And then there is Dal who is sort of a little ham. We got the CDs for Jack's preschool (Joy School) a few weeks ago and listen to them in the car everywhere we go. The boys have them completely memorized and frankly, the CDs are mesmorizing to them which is really nice when I want some peace and quiet. Dal also has some of the songs down as demonstrated here: (he is singing "I do" for those of you not familiar with the song. And excuse his mouth full of cereal)

The second day of Jack's preschool was really the first day Dal and I had to ourselves because Nathan was home with pink eye the first day. It was a lot of fun to have one on one time with Dal. I sat on the floor of my room and worked on a few things while he played with and around me. He kept turing on my alarm clock radio and doing this adorable little dance, clap, squatting, stomping thing. Of course he wouldn't perform as well for the camera but I caught a short version of it anyway:



Ahhh for the love of Chocolate! A child after my own heart.