Christmas

Nikki got a Tinkerbell cell phone from Emma & Lexi, and she hasn't put it down since -- she had it up to her ear even while making our gingerbread house.


What a great age for Christmas, Nikki was even excited about the apple and orange in her stocking!


And here was our big surprise. Hannah got a cat. She named her Pearl, and as I type this she is attacking our Christmas tree. What were we thinking?! Actually, I've been really surprised at how much I like her. She's a really sweet kitty, and the girls just love her.

Charity

Our Relief Society lesson today was based on Elder Wirthlin's talk this past conference entitled, "The Great Commandment." We had a really good lesson, but with a talk like that how could it be otherwise? I absolutely loved this talk about charity. I was rereading it this afternoon, and it made me think of Nate.

Elder Wirthlin said, "Sometimes the greatest love is not found in the dramatic scenes that poets and writers immortalize. Often, the greatest manifestations of love are the simple acts of kindness and caring we extend to those we meet along the path of life."

Nate gives that kind of caring and kindness all the time. To those outside of our family and especially to us. Everyday he does these little things that he doesn't think are a big deal, but I know I don't do as many things for others as he does. On Sunday afternoons, he comes home and lets me take a nap while he plays with the girls for hours. They are always so excited to see him get home, and so am I! Usually when I ask if the dishwasher is clean or dirty, he'll give me a response something like, "It's empty. I just unloaded it." So wonderful. The Family Proclamation says that we are to work together equally to fulfill our duties, and I often have to stop and make sure I'm giving as much in our home as he is.

And I really don't know anyone more friendly. It's interesting to me because he's not naturally outgoing or really comfortable talking a lot to other people, but he does it. At church, I'm always looking around the chapel before the meeting starts wondering where is, and usually he just takes a long time getting to his seat because he is speaking to everyone he passes in the hall. He makes cookies for our neighbors and the families he hometeaches more than I do. He is so wonderful, and I am so blessed to be married to him.

Nikki's Preschool Christmas Program

Nikki's preschool Christmas program was this past week, and here are some pictures from it.

This is after the program, and Nikki was as worn out from a long day as she looks.

I just think this is so funny with all of their different expressions. Eliza is hilarious.

With the big man himself.

The video is a little long, but a mother is allowed to post a video like this. We absolutely love Mrs. Shari, the preschool director, and I think you can see a little of why from this clip. She is so great with the kids. We just barely got there in time, so our seats were in the back and my camera wouldn't zoom in very far. Nikki is a little hard to see because she's near the back, kind of on the left side. We were in such a hurry to get there that she had to get dressed in the car, and of course I forgot to bring a hair brush and barrettes. Poor thing. We had Lydia and Eliza with us, which was fun. They were excited to get to come to the program for the second year in a row. I think Lydia said this was about her third time sitting on Santa's lap this year, and she wouldn't tell me what she asked him to bring her. I wonder if her parents know. =)

Robbins family elves

Check out our secret identities.

Twenty-eight Years

Twenty-eight years, and what a wonderful 28 years they have been. I have really been so blessed to be surrounded by the greatest people my whole life. And even more blessed to have them show so much love to me.

I remember Robin telling stories about the Christmas I was born. Since I had a bad case of jaundice, Mom was still in the hospital with me and it was Dad's job to get the Christmas presents set out for everybody. Only he didn't get everything right, and Robin had to suffer in silence as she watched Kellee open the presents meant for her. Thanks, Robin, for not holding that against me.

I think some of my earliest memories are spending time with Dad during my preschool years. I didn't go to preschool. I stayed home and painted with Dad, and he took me to the bakery every morning to get a huge chocolate chip cookie while he got a coffee and doughnut. I remember being scared of his driving even then.

And of course I remember running after JW and Kellee. I think my most often used phrase in childhood must have been, "Wait for me!" I don't know how they put up with me. I can't believe now how we used to run through the fields around our house. I remember the fort that was in the canal behind the greenhouses. I would be terrified to let my children run through there. It seems like it was a long way from the house. Didn't Mom and Dad ever think about snakes?

I look at Jay and Brenna and I think of JW and me. She copies everything he does and she's tough enough to take whatever he dishes out to her. I always would follow along with anything JW suggested, no matter how often I ended up hurt at the end of it. So maybe I wasn't quite as tough as Brenna!

My brothers and sisters have always been such a big part of my life. I took piano lessons because Robin and Kellee did. I played the flute because we had one (I really wanted to play the trumpet), but I wanted to be in the band because Mike and Kellee had done it. I wanted to go to BYU because Mike went there. They even have played a major role in my spirituality. When Mike was on his mission, I read the Book of Mormon all the way through because of the experiences and testimony he shared in his letters home. I remember walking by JW's room and seeing him read his scriptures before he started his homework. They also taught me not to do homework on Sunday, even if there was a test on Monday, and I did always feel blessed in my schoolwork for doing that. When they came home from EFY or Girls Camp or a temple trip, I would just soak up everything that they said about it. I remember my first year of Girls Camp was so great because Kellee was there, and I felt like she liked having me there. I really do wish I could take back all the fighting that she and I did. I think we started getting along a few months before she left for college, and now she lives so far away.

And of course there was the whole greenhouse experience. Some of the research I was just reading for my last class was about the importance of family work. Well, our family sure did work! For all of the hot, dirty, tired, sore feet complaining, I think everyone agrees that it really was a great experience. Not one that I would care to do again, but I'm so glad that I was a part of that.

Which brings me to the Littles. I really don't think there are better people on this earth, and I love that they still treat me like I'm part of their family. Grandma Bass was so upset that I chose to live with them after the accident, but it really was the best place for me. If only for the reason that Chuck and Eileen both had lost a parent while they were still growing up. At the time I felt like I was going through something nobody else goes through, but they were proof that I wasn't alone. I can't imagine what it must have been like for them to take in a 16-year-old like me, but they just showered me with love. They made me feel like a part of the family from day 1. Chuck and Eileen have been such fabulous models of a successful marriage. Anyone who knows them can tell that they really love each other. I love how the whole family enjoys spending time together, talking to each other, and serving one another. They can spend hours around the dinner table just because they enjoy each other's company so much that they don't want to stop talking. They truly show what a family is supposed to be like.

When I think of the accident, I usually don't think about the actual car wreck because the details of that time period are pretty fuzzy in my mind. I think what stands out to me is the incredible amount of love I was surrounded by. Aunt Ruth was so wonderful that morning, there were countless friends, all of the family, just so many people were there with me it seems like at all times. During a time when I could have felt alone, I felt protected. And when I think about the outcome of the accidents that year, the really only negative result is that I miss Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Granddaddy. I know the hand of the Lord was so involved in our lives during those events. I know He was taking care of me then and still is taking care of me today.

Well, as I think about other parts of my life, I think of Nate and our family now. I couldn't be blessed with a greater husband or children. Even this morning Nate woke up feeling so sick, but before he left for work he made the bed. If I had felt that way, I probably would have still been laying in the bed. And what can I say about Hannah and Nikki? They are so precious and bring me so much joy. I truly love being mother.

Anyway, this is a long post and doesn't even do justice to all I've seen and learned and experienced during my 28 years. I have a wonderful life!!

My reading obsession again

Last night I went to bed at 9 pm and woke up this morning just before 7 am. Ahhh, that felt SO good! The cause of that was because the night before I stayed up almost all night reading a book. I don't have time right now to read for pleasure -- I just have too much going on, but a book I had requested at the library finally came in. They'll only hold it a couple of days for you, so I had to go ahead and get it, and I couldn't just have it sitting around without reading it. So, finishing it in one night was my best solution to avoid putting off other things that I needed to do during the day. I wasn't even crabby with the girls yesterday.

So the book was called Twilight. For me it was like watching a chic flick all night. I really liked it, but if someone only likes to read to be intellectually stimulated and increase their knowledge, they probably wouldn't go for this book. Nate would say it was a complete waste of time. It probably was, but so is watching a movie. It's about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Oh, it was so good. There are three books in the series, but I'm going to have to wait until Christmas vacation is underway before I can think about getting the second one.

Hannah Lost Her 1st Tooth

Hannah feels like she is the last one of all the kids she knows her age to have lost a tooth. She was so excited when her tooth finally started wiggling. It became quite a drawn out process, though. She worked on it a lot one day last week, and even let me have a go at it, but I guess it wasn't quite ready yet. So, for the rest of the week she wouldn't let anyone near her mouth. It was just barely hanging in there, and she agreed to let Uncle Mike take it out at family dinner last night. She was so impressed that he could do it without it even hurting one bit! She is convinced that it was because he's a dentist that he could do it painlessly. Here she is working on her tooth.
Hannah and Dr. Mike.
This morning she wanted to pose for another picture. It was so cute how excited she and Nikki both were to see if the tooth fairy had come. They were pretty impressed that she could come without waking them up. It must be her magic!

Christmas Cookies

We made some Christmas cookies today. I tried a new sugar cookie recipe and really liked it. It made a ton of cookie dough, so I decided to just make 4 dozen today and put the rest in a couple of containers in the freezer. I think we have enough dough to last us through Valentine's Day. It was a little tricky keeping the icing off of the princesses, but it worked and they were happy and we all had fun.

Santa's Lap

Hannah
Nikki

Lexi
Emma
Eliza
Lydia
Alli & Jay

It was fun having the cousins at the ward party. Poor Jay didn't really appreciate this experience.

Feliz Navidad

This is Nate's introduction to his presentation of Argentina's Christmas traditions at our church Christmas party. He was so funny. Yes, I am definitely missing from the stage on purpose. This idea started as a joke, and I couldn't believe he was really going to do it. I love him for being able to do something like this. Poor Hannah was hiding behind him the whole time. The lighting is awful, but hopefully you can still get the gist of his dance. I think he was glad that his face is hidden in the video!

Studying

My assignments are all turned in (although I'm not looking forward to my grade on my last paper -- oh well), and I am studying for my final!! This has been the best class, but also the class that will never end. Anyway, I thought I would post some of the highlights of my review today.

What Makes Marriage Work? This article has a couple of interesting findings in it. Nate and I had a discussion on whether we have a validating or conflict-avoiding marriage. We compromised that sometimes it's a little of both -- but that's a validating technique. I also thought the 5-1 ratio was interesting -- a successful marriage has a ratio of 5 positive encounters for every 1 negative encounter.

Hallmarks of a Happy Home This is a talk given by Thomas S. Monson. Very good.

And my favorite highlight of my review today is a quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley: "You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out. It will not be the money you have made. It will not be the cars you have owned. It will not be the large house in which you live. The searing question that will cross your mind again and again will be, How well have my children done? If the answer is that they have done very well, then your happiness will be complete. If they have done less than well, then no other satisfaction can compensate for your loss."

A good whole wheat bread recipe

While I have my recipes out, I just got a new one for whole wheat bread from my mother-in-law, too. I haven't made it yet, but she had some for us while we were at their house and it was delicious. It was very moist and not too heavy. She said she usually halves the recipe, which looks like a good idea to me.

8 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 c. gluten
Mix a little until yeast is mixed throughout flour, then add:

6 cups hot water. Mix this together for 1 minute with a mixer or constant stirring, then let the mixture sit, with a cloth/lid over bowl, for 10 minutes. Then add:

2/3 c. oil (3/4 c. if not using gluten)
1 cup honey
2 Tbsp. salt
Mix a little and keep mixing while adding:

6 more cups of flour. After flour is in, mix for 6 minutes on low, or knead for about 15 minutes. Sometimes the dough will end up stickier than other times depending on humidity, etc. I always use the same amount of flour (14 cups) and it works out fine. Turn oven onto lowest setting (170 degrees) and spray bread tins with Pam. Divide into 5 loaves for 8 inch pans, or 4 loaves for 9 inch pans. Arrange all pans in the oven and set timer for 20 minutes. when the timer goes off, turn oven up to 350 degrees and bake for 32 minutes longer. You do not need to open the oven or anything, just turn it up and reset timer. When the bread is done, take it out and immediately remove from pan and lay sideways on a clean dishcloth. Let cool for about 40-60 minutes.

Pizza

While we were in Utah my sister-in-law made homemade pizza for us one night, and it was soooo good. So I got the recipe from her. It was really easy, but you do have to plan ahead a little since it needs to rise for 40 minutes.

1 pkg yeast
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. white flour
corn meal
pizza toppings

Dissolve package of yeast in water with honey and let stand 5 minutes. Add wheat flour and 1 cup of white flour. On a floured surface knead dough for 6 minutes, adding the additional flour to prevent it from sticking (add more if necessary). Roll into a ball when finished.

Spray bowl with cooking spray. Cover with a towel and let dough rise in a warm place (at least 85 degrees) for 40 minutes free from drafts or until it doubles in size.

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and lightly dust with cornmeal. roll out ball of dough on baking sheet. Bake on lowest rack in the oven on 500 degrees fro 8 minutes. Remove from oven and add pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake for an additional 6-8 minutes on the highest rack in oven or until the cheese melts.

My camera came today!!

Thanks so much for sending my camera Robin!!! It was the best mail we got today! I wish I had gotten more pictures. I can't believe I didn't get any on Thanksgiving day with Nate's family. Where was my mind?! And then I didn't have it when we were at Kellee's or Steve's or at Temple Square with the Christmas lights. Anyway, those will just have to stay good memories in my head. So, finally I can post what pictures I did get from our trip.

Rock on!

This was absolutely hilarious. Robin's kids had this video game where you had a guitar and tried to play the music as it came up on the screen. It was really fun and really hard. Kellee just barely beat me! But the funniest was when Nate and Joe went at it. I think the video shows why!

Grandma and Grandpa

Of course, our luggage was lost when we arrived at the airport, but it was a good opportunity for the girls to get cozy with their grandma. Thankfully, our luggage arrived just as we were about to leave the baggage office.

We were so excited to get to visit with Nate's parents. Hannah and Nikki had been looking forward all year to this trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. They also wanted snow, but I was actually glad we missed that part of Utah's winter. We had such a great time that they didn't even realize they missed out on making a snowman until we got home!

Hannah and Jayden

And Nikki never wants to be left out. =)

Yummy!

The sad thing is that this picture is funny because at the Littles' house I am remembered for the picture of me eating the last scoop of ice cream out of the 5 gallon creamery bucket. How do they always catch me like this?
The apple really doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it?

Leaves

We had such a fun day with the Littles. There were so many leaves stuck in Hannah's hair that I had to brush it out in the bathroom and then sweep up the floor. This was a highlight of the trip for them!

Thankful

Okay, I should be researching for my last paper of my current class, but I'm using my blog to procrastinate instead. I don't really know what topic I want to research, and it's killing me. So, while I've been thinking about everything else but parenting topics, I've come up with a list of things I'm thankful for. Maybe Thanksgiving was last week, but I can still be grateful now, too.

1. the gospel of Jesus Christ, the atonement, my testimony, Heavenly Father -- I'll put all of these things into one category because without these spiritual blessings I wouldn't have any joy in my life. Any happiness or pleasure I experienced would only be temporary, but the gospel provides a way for eternal joy.

2. family -- my husband, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, grandparents, the Littles, uncles/aunts/cousins -- I have been surrounded by wonderful people my entire life.

3. air conditioning/heating units -- I love being able to wake up in the morning and with a flick of my finger the heat can turn on. I remember the days of waiting my turn to get dressed beside the wood stove in the morning. How wonderful to not have to make a fire to get warm!

4. sensors in public restrooms -- Going to the bathroom in the airport was wonderful because I didn't have to touch anything anybody else had touched except for the lock on the stall door. Toilets flush, soap is dispensed, water comes on and off, and even the towels are dispensed automatically! I hope the companies producing those products are very successful!!!

5. literacy -- I can't imagine what life would be like if I did not know how to read.

6. music -- playing the piano is such a stress reliever for me. If I couldn't express my feelings on the piano, I think I would have eaten my way to about 300 lbs by now.

7. the internet -- what a wealth of knowledge that is right at my fingertips. And it has also provided a way for me to keep in touch with my family more. Of course there is the beauty of email, and I love Kellee's blog because she is so far away, but I still get to see a little of what her family is doing. I've only seen my friend Kristen a few times, but I feel like I know her because I get to read her blog.

But okay, so the internet can be a source of trouble, too, as I am proving by not using my time the way I should right now. I'm off to decide what parenting question I want to investigate!

Book Review

Last night I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I can't decide if I like the movie or the book better, which is unusual because a book is almost always better than the movie. I like the storyline of the movie better, but I think the ending of the book is more the way it should be. I just always want a happy ending.

Quick synopsis: Edmond Dantes is about to become the captain of a ship, and the night before he is to be married to his love Mercedes he is arrested for no reason that he can understand. He has been betrayed by three selfish men who better their own interests by having Edmond thrown into prison. After 14 years he escapes, obtains a hidden treasure, and returns as the Count of Monte Cristo to the people he used to know to seek his revenge.

What I like about the movie is that he gets Mercedes back, whereas in the book it's not such a pretty picture. Mercedes had married his rival, and in his attempts to seek revenge on her husband, he causes a lot of suffering for Mercedes and her son. Also, in seeking revenge on the magistrate who imprisoned him, he causes pain to the family of the one true friend he really had, the shipowner who was going to make him captain. The shipowner's son is in love with the magistrate's daughter, and she almost dies because Monte Cristo hinted to her stepmother how to effectively poison those in her way of her son's inheritance.

Monte Cristo is a really cool character - self confident, bold, smart, handsome, and of course extremely rich. Everyone admires him, and he gets his fingers into everyone's lives without them knowing he is ruining them until right at their breaking point. I think the gist that I got out of the book was that even though he accomplished his great revenge, he caused himself and even those he loved a lot of pain in the process. In the end he realizes that one should not place himself as an equal to God by seeking to exact another's punishment. I think I would have liked it more if I hadn't seen the movie first. It was a really long book and I always expected him to get the girl and have her son really be his. I guess there wouldn't have been a moral to the story if he got his revenge and his life turned out right, too.

Thanksgiving in Utah

Last night we got home safe and sound from a great trip to Utah! Nikki is still asleep and I'm sure Hannah would rather still be in bed than at school. Last night both girls ended up in our bed, so I was on the couch. I thought that was crazy since they slept so well in all the different houses we stayed in over the holidays. I think we left our camera at Robin's house, so hopefully she'll be able to find it soon and mail it to us. We didn't get nearly enough pictures. We were able to see all of the family in Utah except for Nate's brother David who spent Thanksgiving in Idaho. The girls were meeting so many cousins that they didn't remember, and I thought they did a great job just jumping in and playing with everyone.

We had a great visit with Nate's parents. Hannah and Nikki wanted to spend every minute with Grandma and Grandpa and would follow them around the house. They especially loved the trains. Nate's dad has the neatest train set in the basement. It fills the whole family room and has several tracks and trains of all sizes. The scenery is really cool, too because he made his own mountains and desert scenes and villages. I think you could look at it all day and still find new things. It was so good to see them and be able to spend some time with them. We sure wish we could do that more often.

On the way to dinner at Laura's house (Nate' sister) one night we were telling the girls the names of their cousins they would get to play with at Laura's house, and when Nikki learned that there was a boy she said, "I don't like boys." She was so sure she didn't want to play with him, but when we got there Gabe was just so talkative and entertaining. On the way home, Nikki sounded so surprised when she said, "That boy was nice."

We got to spend a day at the Littles, and it was really fun getting to know Gary's kids. Hannah and Hyrum had fun playing together. He's such a cute kid. And Jayden got Nate into her make-believe pegasus game. He was so impressed that she could put on a pretty good British accent and said she had an imagination just like Emma. We got some updated pictures with Hannah and Jayden together. They don't know that they're supposed to be best friends but maybe they'll figure that out one day!

There were also fun visits to Shaun and Steve's houses and BYU campus and to see Robin and Kellee. I even got to go with Kellee on her paper route. We got to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. Nate got to go to the BYU/Utah football game. It was just so wonderful and I could make this blog post tons longer, but I'll wait until I get my camera back. It was a great trip and it is also great to be home.

Is That a Compliment?

Let's think about this for a minute. Whenever someone has said to me, "Have you lost weight?" I honestly think they are trying to come up with a compliment. However, in my mind, that statement just does not work. First of all, if I had been doing the hard work of changing my lifestyle and getting in better shape, then the very act of questioning whether I had accomplished any weight loss is telling me that you're not really sure if there's a difference, which belittles the hard work I've done. However, I don't have 30 or 40 pounds to lose and after I leveled off after having my babies I never have had that much weight to lose. Sure, I would be very happy to be rid of a good 10 pounds or so. So when someone asks me if I've lost weight when I have still been eating ice cream and napping on the couch, I'm left to wonder what their mental picture of me is really like. How big do they normally think I am? Another "compliment" I've heard is, "You look great for having had two kids." What did they just say to me? I look like a flabby, tired mommy, but at least it's not as bad as it could be. If they are searching that hard for a compliment, it's probably best just to avoid the subject.

Whew! I feel better now. Sometimes you just need a little vent.

My Afternoon Surprise

When I woke up from my nap and walked into the kitchen this afternoon, I heard Nate and the girls gather up what they were doing and run into another room. Nikki whispered, "Hurry, Mom's going to see her surprise." I was going visiting teaching so I just left them to finish what they were doing and headed out. When I got home, Nikki met me in the garage because she was so excited to show me what they had been working on. They had each made little cards and written notes and drawn pictures on them for me, which were just sweet and adorable. Then they had set up a carnival throughout the whole house. Hannah and Nikki had come up with several different games. Hannah gave me a handful of plastic spoons and told me they were my tickets to play the games. We had paint the tail on the fish, a balloon pop, hang the monster on the light switch, a puzzle station, musical spoons, a sack race, storytime, a cartwheel competition (Nate and I came in last on that one), and we also played steamroller. It was so much fun. I just felt so grateful to be a part of our family. I love my husband and my children more than I can put into words. What a wonderful life we have.

Tonight we were on the way home from the cousins' house, and Nikki was exhausted. She was crying and whining about being hungry and thirsty (she had eaten plenty of food and had plenty to drink). Oh, first I should mention that when it was time for everyone to clean up before we left, Nikki conveniently made her way into the kitchen asking for a drink. I purposefully poured her just a tiny amount because I knew she was trying to get out of cleaning up, and she then tried to take the tiniest, slowest sips possible. Clever kid. So anyway, when we weren't responding to her crying in the car she came up with another tactic. All of a sudden she got really quiet and then started making these choking noises. We looked back to see if she was okay and she croaked out, "I'm so thirsty I can't breathe." Ha! If only we could channel this creativity into a positive outlet.

Mother-Daughter Date

The other night I took Hannah out for a mother-daughter date. It really is sad to me that she is gone so much of the time at school. She's not really a chatterbox, so I feel like I have to pry information out of her to know what's going on during her day. Nikki threw a huge fit because she didn't get to go with us, but I think that made Hannah feel all the more excited about our date. We had a really good time together. She is really conscious of eating healthy foods, so she didn't want to go out for ice cream. (Can she really be our child?) We decided to go out for smoothies and do some Christmas shopping. In the car she was really excited about finding Christmas presents. She said, "I just love giving to other people. I feel so much joy when I do that. It makes me feel so much better." She is such a sweetheart. We had a lot of fun picking out a present for Nikki. She decided she might need to make a present for Nate because he is a man, and she just doesn't know what a man would like. =) As we were about to order our smoothies, I thought it was kind of cold for that so I asked her if she wanted hot chocolate instead. She agreed to that, but she only took a couple of swallows and said she didn't want anymore. I felt bad because she had told me before that she wanted something good for us and not a treat. After that we took a trip to the library because earlier she had been looking out of the car window at the stars. She started asking questions about the sun since she knew that the sun was a star, and we decided to run by the library to pick up a couple of books about the sun. Then, on the way there she started asking about recycling. She wanted to know if they got all the germs off of the used paper and plastic before they made something else out of it. So, we decided to get a book about recycling too since I couldn't explain the process of exactly what they do when things are recycled. She absolutely LOVED it when we ran across a book about craft projects we could make with recyclable things. I hope she becomes a successful artist someday. (As an example of her art, a couple of Sundays ago during church she took her flower and smiley face stickers and tore them in pieces to make a mosaic picture of a girl beside her house with a sun and grass. Now the kid who usually sits behind us always has to check out what she's making. Anyway, I could write another complete post about her art.) We didn't do anything really big, but it was so fun just to spend the evening with her. I am so blessed to be her mother.

Halloween

We had a lot of fun this Halloween. Nikki was a fairy princess (thanks so much for letting us borrow that costume, Sherrie), and she absolutely loved her outfit. Hannah wanted to be a flower, and she was really happy with her costume as well. I was happy that we invested less than $10 in the holiday this year.We ate supper right before I took these pictures, and Hannah spilled some water on her shirt. That's what that spot is. Oh well.



Nikki got to go trick-or-treating with her preschool class in the morning to the shops downtown, and then they had a little party. Just with that, she was loaded down with candy, and then we went to our party at church at night. The girls came home with tons of candy, and then we had lots leftover from the game we had put together for the party. I guess Nate's office is going to be well stocked with candy for quite some time because it's certainly not staying here.

Carving Pumpkins

For family night last night we carved our pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns. It was so fun. The girls thought cleaning out the inside was really gross. It took Nikki a long time to put her spoon down and just go for those seeds with her fingers. I thought their faces in the pictures were great. I don't remember making jack-o-lanterns very much as a kid, but I'm so glad we have made it a tradition with our girls. It really is fun. Hannah and Nikki even decided I carved a better face than Nate! Since he is the artist in the family that was surprising. Nikki was working with me, and when she saw his nose, she said, "Don't make one like that, Mom." We got a good laugh out of it.

Quotes About Family Stress

My current lesson for school is about sources of stress in our families. Here are a couple of quotes that I really appreciated.

From the discussion material written by my professors: "We would like to be perfect parents for our children, but we must remember that parenting is a sanctifying process and that our Father knew that we would make mistakes. His plan did not require that parents act perfectly in order to rear righteous children, but it did require that we work hard to improve our situations, that we love our children, that we serve them, and that we apologize when we make mistakes." -- I really liked the "parenting is a sanctifying process" part. I know when I became a parent it seemed like all of my character flaws were just magnified, and all of a sudden I could see so many of my weaknesses so clearly. A little overwhelming, but I am so grateful for all I have learned in the 6 short years I've been a mother.

Neal A. Maxwell: "When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked. When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and, therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (Doctrine and Covenants 50:40)." (Maxwell, N. A. (1978). Meeting the challenges of today. In Devotional speeches of the year. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University)

And then there are these two quotes by Elder Orson F. Whitney that offer comfort to parents of wayward children. I hope I never have to cling to these promises in regards to my own children, but I'm grateful Heavenly Father is so merciful.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared -- and he never taught more comforting doctrine -- that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of the Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father's heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God." (Pehrson, K. L., Thursby, J. S., & Olson, T. D. (2000). Gospel ideals and adversity in family life. In D. C. Dollahite (Ed.), Strengthening our families: An in-depth look at the proclamation on the family. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft. p. 250)

"You parents of the willful and the wayward! Don't give them up. Don't cast them off. They are not utterly lost. The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours -- long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them. They have but strayed in ignorance from the Path of Right, and God is merciful to ignorance. Only the fullness of knowledge brings the fullness of accountability. Our Heavenly Father is far more merciful, infinitely more charitable, than even the best of his servants, and the Everlasting Gospel is mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend." (Pehrson, 2000, p. 249)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today with Nikki's preschool. It rained on us, but it was a good outing anyway. It was actually really nice to see some rain.
These mums were incredibly huge. I don't remember us growing any quite this big. Very pretty.

Social worries

About a month after school started I began to worry about Hannah because she would come home everyday telling me that she didn't like playing on the playground. She said she ususally just hopped and skipped on the side all by herself. She is naturally shy, but to still call her classmates strangers after that much time I thought might be a problem. Then after reading for my class about how parents can help their children develop social skills, I thought I had failed and was a terrible mother. I suppose we all overreact to some things sometimes. So I have been paying more attention for the past little while every time she interacts with kids at church, neighbors, cousins, even Nikki, and then I had lunch with her on Monday at school. And not only do I think she is okay, I'm very proud of how well she can stand for what she wants. She is not swayed by what others are doing, and I think that is most of the reason why she often does her own thing. A few nights ago, a bunch of neighbor girls were playing with Nikki in the yard, and she came in to get Hannah to come play with them. After a while Hannah came back in and said they were all fighting over a ball and they were going to pop it. I assured her it wouldn't pop, and instead of going back out she decided she wanted to play a computer game. I know she was uncomfortable with their bickering, so she just removed herself. She is very unconfrontational and noncompetitive. She would rather leave than argue over what game to play. I also saw at school that several of the kids at lunch did talk to her, and she added to the conversation as well, so I know she can and does participate in social interactions. I think this ability to walk away will be great when she is a teenager! I hope it lasts.

Odds and ends

My sister sent this link of a mother's version of the William Tell Overture to me and I thought it was so funny. Our internet filter actually blocks Youtube, but this was worth overriding it for a few minutes.

I wanted to sign Hannah up for a Brownie Girl Scout Troop, but there weren't enough parent volunteers to get a group started in our part of the county, so I get to be a troop leader. I just jumped in and said sure I'll do it, but now I'm getting nervous. I would so much prefer just to be an assistant leader, but I guess everyone else feels that way, too. I get to go to training next week, and I'm sure I'll be more excited about it after that. I think this will be really good for Hannah, and I know it will be a lot of fun being with the girls.

The other day Nikki had been grumpy all day, and I was just tired of it. I just wrote a stinking paper on how to get your kids to stop whining, but she doesn't appreciate that fact. I keep trying to figure out what I'm doing to perpetuate it. I'm sure there are a lot of things. So, at dinner I asked what I could do to help her be happier and stop complaining so much. Her response: "You can just give me everything I want right when I ask for it." Well, in a way, she's right. I might complain less if I got my way all the time, too. I just need to get her to understand that that would turn her into a monster. I was so proud of Hannah when she popped in and said, "Nikki, you can't get what you want all the time." Maybe Hannah will be able to reach her better than I can.

Choir practice started up again last night after a break of a couple of weeks. I think it went pretty well. I still feel out of place up there, and I'm actually kind of glad everyone had their nose stuck in the music rather than looking up because I'm really not coordinated enough to sing and listen to the choir and wave my arm in the right pattern all at the same time. That's alright because I'm being stretched out of my comfort zone.

The marker did it all by itself

That's what she told me when I asked her what happened to her hand.

Glasses

Hannah went to the eye doctor today. A couple of weeks ago I got a note from the school nurse saying that Hannah had not passed her eye screening. Her teacher told me she sits very close to the front and has trouble seeing the board. I was feeling like a lousy parent for not noticing she was having a problem, but the doctor told me today that she has probably only needed glasses for a few months. That made me feel better. I tried to show her some pictures of when I was little and got glasses, but that was a BIG mistake. My first glasses were these hideous gargantuan stop-sign glasses. Hannah told me yesterday that she was not afraid of going to the doctor, but she was afraid that her glasses would look weird. She was pleasantly surprised when they had some cute pink frames that didn't cover her whole face. I think she looks cute, but it keeps taking me by surprise every time I look at her.

County Fair

Last night we went to the fair and had so much fun. A lot of my pictures came out blurry since I'm not very technologically savvy and don't really know how to use my camera to get a picture when something is moving. But I did get some really cute ones.

We all loved the Ferris wheel. As we were sitting on it we watched these really heavy clouds get closer and closer. We thought for sure we would get rained on, but we lucked out. We got the first sprinkles in the car on the way home.


Nikki doesn't look very excited here, but she really was happy to ride the merry-go-round.
After we had used up all of our ride tickets we got some cotton candy and went to see the animals and a couple of shows. One show was about farm animals, and the other one was called the Hogway Speedway Pig Races. That's where they got the pig ears hats. It was really funny. They had a little track that these little pigs ran around to get to a plate of cheese puffs at the end. They also raced goats and ducks. The girls thought that was fun.

Field Trip to the Farm

Nikki's preschool took a field trip to a farm today. We went last year, and Nikki was excited to go again. This is Sweet Anne. She's getting to be a pretty old donkey, so she couldn't give the kids a ride like she did last year. They all got to get up on her for a photo shoot, though. They could also feed the animals carrots and apples. I didn't have any in the fridge, and I didn't get to the store like I had planned to yesterday, so I didn't have to worry about Nikki getting her fingers bitten off.

An ostrich (or whatever this huge thing was) on a farm in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina? How about that.

I think the kitten was Nikki's favorite. She especially liked it when everyone else cleared out for a litttle bit and she got to play with her all on her own.

The pond was really low. Mr. Hinnant, the owner, said he has never seen it get this low before. We could use a lot of rain around here. There are no birds in this picture, but there are ducks and geese and turkeys all around that we got to throw some bread to.

All in all, a fun trip.