Thanksgiving Proclamation

I love this Proclamation issued by George Washington in 1789 ~

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

#1 Fan

On date night last Friday night, Corey and I went to Kneaders. Natalie accompanied us. I couldn't find her official binki (the one with the strap that I can clip to her so it doesn't fall on the floor when she spits it out) so I grabbed a stray, only to find that I'd already had lots of strays in my purse, then I found her official binki in her carseat, so Natalie had lots of backup - definitely prepared for an emergency! As we were chatting after dinner, I watched her play with the binkis, then I played with them with her too and I discovered that her little finger fits nicely in the binki hole, isn't that cute?

 ~ Corey asked her "Are you ready for the big football game?"

Let's hear you cheer "We're Number One!"

Look at that cute little tongue...

Ok, that's all I'll share right now of the hundreds of pictures that I take of her each day.

She's my #1 fan, and I'm her biggest fan too!

Beholding Cottage Cheese

Earlier in the week, I sat Sophia down at the counter with a bowl of cottage cheese. I went to work at the computer and when I returned to check on her, she was quietly sitting and very earnestly attempting to put cottage cheese on her arm.

She was very serious about it. I wondered what was going on in that little head of hers. She was fully present with her cottage cheese...

After scooping a little spoonful of it on to her arm, she carefully swirled it around, perhaps painting with it or hydrating her skin? Was she just amazed with the texture or liked seeing the matter of clumps compared to the liquid?

I don't know, but it intrigued me and made me slow down to try and see what it was she was seeing... it's good to be still and to live in the now. And on top of that, the cottage cheese doubles as food!

So I enjoyed slowing down for that brief moment, I probably need to spend a bit more time being still and quieting my mind. I loved this BYU speech that was rebroadcast on Wednesday, especially her words about "being present". On Wednesday I drove Joseph to his band practice in Utah County. I took Natalie and Sophia, who both fell asleep on the drive down. After dropping Joseph off at 4:00, I just sat in the car and read and thought for an hour and a half, it was nice and refreshing. I was still and present. I made some plans regarding my schedule and our family's routine (which went along with another devotional talk that was rebroadcast yesterday about Time, need to review that one, it was good. I just love the devotionals, they are on tv each day at 11:00 and are usually part of my daily routine). Anyway, with our schedule we have to get together and make sure everyone gets done with homework and music earlier so little Sophi knows the day is winding down and we can get her to bed earlier... poor thing thinks we're torturing her when we have her lay down to bed ~ there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of little teeth. Although it does occasionally give me some time in the mornings to blog. It is now 9:30 a.m. and I'm going to go wake her up. I'm glad we have a break next week with Thanksgiving. Things are busy, but good. Life is good.

Good News Day

We had a good day today. The best news of the day was that Natalie had her 4th follow up ultrasound and she passed. Her left hip passed the 50% mark and so she's good to go harness free all day, hooray! She has to wear it at night for 3 more weeks and then we can burn it. Although seems sad to burn something that cost $175. (Ah, medical supplies... the harness seemed a wee bit over priced since it appears to be just a bunch of velcro and flannel sewn together. Anyway...) So I'm very happy and grateful that her hip made it. Ethan helped Natalie call dad to tell him the good news. Good job sweetie.

In other news, Kids Town is still going strong and keeping the kids all playing nicely in the basement - since it's unfinished, I guess it's like a blank canvas for their imagination. They were rearranging stuff all evening and setting up more shops. I got some lettuce boxes from Costco for them to use as desks, they were pretty excited. Gotta love cardboard.

Speaking of cardboard boxes, I also got this picture today from Studio C saying thanks for the love notes plastered all over the box that the Darth Vader costume was in. Could they tell that we love them?

Looks like they love us too :) ~The kids felt pretty special. The episode last night was really funny, my favorite was "Generationals" and the overall family favorite was "Diving Finals".

Kids Town Returns!

Last year, Ethan went to the Junior Achievement Biztown and inspired the kids to a game of Kids Town that kept them creative and busy for weeks. This year was Hyrum's turn to attend with his school class, and so Kids Town has returned to our basement once again and the kids are loving it! 

They're creating a bit more law and order this year with their own consitution, signed by all the citizens. 

Last year when the basement flooded, we had to tear out the carpet and so it's just been an empty room with boards and nails still around the edges of the room. I turned it into my little craft and paint area but that is no more. I gotta figure out a place to put my stuff now, cause they've made it clear that they don't ever EVER want Kids Town to be taken down, and I agreed that if they keep playing so amazingly nice and quietly like they did this weekend, I'm happy to appease them. So there's what's left of my stuff in the far corner, along with my frames of things that I'm waiting for inspiration on where to put them or what to do with them.

They only broke like 5 of my glass things as they worked. Again, I didn't get mad - if they are playing sweetly and nice, that is okay with me to sacrifice a few glass items. I even set up my own shoppe - I opened "Mom's Salon" cause they all needed to have their fingernail's trimmed. :)

Lily had a Stuffed animal store, Abi has a Toy Shop...

 Melodie opened an arcade.

 Hyrum runs the bank and is the DJ for the Radio station.

Wesley opened up an Art Studio again, so busy at work he can't even look up for a photo.

Ethan has taken over the role of Mayor and also runs a craft shop on the side.

He had a lot of homework over the weekend, and just did it as part of his Kid's Town work, which inspired them to open up a Library where they could get homework done if they didn't have room in their stores.

And some of the neighbors set up a flower shop with Sophi

 And a pet store (they brought in the guinea pigs for a day)

Anyway, it's just fun to watch them and I'm thinking I'll have my own "Town" of occumpations up here on the main floor that I'll go hire people to work for me - I'll start with a garbage man/waste management service, a laudromat owner, and a maid service, perhaps a restaurant, too. And we'll add a little Mom's Store side business where my employees can purchase their bread and butter. Good times.

Mop the Kitchen

Last night Sophi spilled grape juice all over the foor during dinner. We wiped it up with paper towels, but I didn't get around to washing it all off. Then today at lunch she spilled two glasses of milk... Abi and Lily didn't finish drinking their milk and left it for Sophi to play with. Apparently she got bored, and thus decided to try again to give me a reason to mop.

She sat there on the stool swinging her little leg back and forth to see if she could get it through the milk stream without getting dripped on. I did not cry over this spilled milk. I was glad for the excuse to make washing the floor the top priority on my to-do list. Thank you, you pretty girl.

So as I was cleaning it up, I was thinking once again of how I haven't found a good mop. I've tried the Swiffer route, the regular sponge mop, neither of those cut it. The one I use mostly right now is a dry/wet mop thing that I can wash in the laundry, it's pretty good, but if anyone has one they love, I'd love the recommendation. I usually take care of spills like these with old bath or hand towels, and try to wash the rest of the floor a bit before another emergency comes around to take top priority.

Baby Love

Natalie was fussing around one morning when I was taking carpool. When I came home, Corey was holding her and singing her a song to the tune of "You are my Sunshine" ~

Your life is easy 
You have no problems
It's time to show us some gratitude
We feed your face and
We change your diaper
Please try to be in a good mood.

So we tell Natalie we love her through songs, squeezes, kisses, and by taking hundreds of pictures of her cute face. The kids take my camera and take lots of pictures, that one above was taken by Ethan. And she tells us she loves us too, in her own special way. She told Ethan a big "I LOVE YOU!" last night... I was in the room with Ethan and Natalie, he was holding her on the bed, then he started to scream bloody murder cause something had happened... I came over to see. "Take her! Take her! Ahh!" Ok, I'll take her, just sec, let me get the camera... So this is how they were at first...

And this was how Natalie said Thank you to Ethan for spending time with her...

And today as I held her and did stuff at the computer (typing up the above story), she told me she loves me too. Take a picture! I probably take too many pictures (see 1:45, also 2:30... "I have more pictures of my children than my father ever looked at me...")

So anyway, I guess it's time to buy the next size up, size 3 already, time goes by too fast. By the way, it means she really really loves you if she poops on your left pant leg, so she really really loves Ethan and me. 

We love you Natalie!!

Monday #2

I've kinda been feeling this way since school started:

Sigh. Yesterday was kinda rough. Busy all day but not getting anything done at the same time. It shall pass. I need to re-read "One Thousand Gifts" and remember to slow down time by being fully present and looking for the beauty in each moment. These kids won't be small forever. Last night Sophi didn't fall asleep until 12:50 a.m., I tried to multi task by stretching. Still, I've been feeling kinda defeated all day today. And it seems that everyday when I'm ready to be done, like around 8:00 or 9 pm, the kids just start going full speed. I wouldn't say that they are hyperactive, but they do seem to be possessed by some kinda energy (that I wish they'd give me a shot of) once it gets dark and they are all just nuts running around, laughing, playing, screaming, the pitter-pat thundering of little feet all around the house. I don't know why it happens each night when I wish they would start winding down and getting ready for bed. That being said, Corey and I got a big kick out of this sketch from Studio C last night "Three Wishes"
~that is kinda how the kids act and we're trying to speak to them and be understood ~ "Please, go get on your pajamas, k? Please brush your teeth, do you hear me? Focus buddy, you can do this! Please listen for scriptures, okay? Come on, ya gotta stay focused, allright?" All the sketches from last night were so cute, watch the full episode here. :) It is the one thing we have to look forward to on Mondays. I shall now go face the rest of Monday #2. I actually like Thursdays though, cause they are really "Pre-Friday".

BYU Broadcasting Building

On Friday the kids didn't have school, so I let them decide if we would all take a special trip to Provo to deliver the Darth Vader costume to Studio C, or if I'd just do it Monday with Ethan when he went to Utah county for his Jazz band practice. The kids all voted to go, but I did say "We might just take it in and drop it off - I can't promise that we'll see anyone from the cast, so I don't want you guys to be let down or anything..." I had called the BYU Broadcasting building earlier in the day about doing a tour, and the guy called me back, but said their schedule was all tied up today but might be able to get someone to guide us around and said he'd call me back. I said we were on our way anyway, so no problems either way. All the kids still wanted to go and get as close as they could to their favorite show. So we all went. We gave it to the nice receptionist and that was that. She said we could walk around if we wanted, so we did. Lily and Sophi quickly entered a trance when they saw pbs kids playing on one of their tvs. 

There were three tvs which showed all the shows they broadcast - kbyu 11, byutv, and byutv international.
We got the girls to move and walked around, admiring all their broadcasting awards and advertisements for their productions.

Lily said "Look mom! American Ride!" We thought that was funny that the history show was the one she reconginzed. Yes, I watch a lot of tv these days, as it's one of the things I can do while I nurse Natalie. We walked by Studio C where Studio C does their sketches. Here's Ethan saying "We were this close!"

Then we went up the elevator just for fun to keep looking around. We saw a lady walk by and Abi approached her and asked her if she could give a picture to Studio C that she had drawn. The lady said "Do you want to see Studio C?" and amazed at this small miracle that the kids had been hoping for, we said yes. This kind lady's name is Kim and she has a radio show at 1:00 in the afternoons and she is my kids' new hero. She was so nice, she gave us a full tour of the whole broadcasting building. First we went to the Studio C areas - their stage, the backstage area which the kids recognized ~

Ethan and I did some jazzersize (see 1:14) in front of the green screen -

we saw the make-up room ~

the green rooms ~

... and then on top of that she showes us around the sets and stages for their other shows on the other stations, like Chef Brad's kitchen and the Latin show's set, even the radio and recording studios, she kept asking "Do you want to go see ____?" and then would say "well you might as well since you're already here!" It was so nice of her, the kids loved it. It was also a good lesson on how we should try to be more like Kim - notice people, greet them, offer help, take the time to slow down from our own to-do's and help and serve others. We're so thankful that she took the time to show us around! 

And then we got some Krispy Kremes with chocolate icing and sprinkles on the way home ~

(I had to have a bribe to convince them to come with me when it was time to leave rather than go home with Kim.)

Happy kids and a small miracle = great childhood memories

Goodbye Darth Daddy

Once upon a time, there was a young family, and Corey, the father of that young family, was in business school at BYU. Joseph, the oldest child, was in kindergarten, and he was really into Star Wars. For some reason, given their student loans and lack of income, the mother of this family thought it would be a wonderful idea for Halloween to impulsively spend lots of money on a Darth Vader costume on ebay. So she did, without the father's knowledge or consent. When the costume arrived in the mail, the kids were super excited.

Even the 5 month old could hardly contain himself.

As the days went on, the novelty didn't wear off, and like any father struggling to provide, poor Corey felt a wee bit unappreciated and burdened (he had a lot of homework to do...) as his kids would inform him that they wanted to play Star Wars and that they needed a Darth Vader, "...so go suit up."

But like all great fathers, he did. Again and again.

After Halloween was over, Corey was glad to see the costume boxed up and packed away. However each following Halloween, the kids remembered their fun Star Wars memories and were eager to make their dad put it on again. He did reluctantly, unless he could find another victim to take his place. One year he got his dad to put it on and be Grandpa Vader, another year he got a short friend from Uruguay to put it on, and we had a Spanish Vader (that one was pretty funny).

One year we went to a park with extended family for an ultimate lightsaber fight. We came prepared with the Darth Vader costume for Corey to don at the battle's climax. That evening proved to be particularly frustrating for Daddy Vader, for not only did he have his own children attacking him, but there were nieces and nephews and every other child in the park, who upon seeing Darth Vader mustered their last bits of valor to face him. They all seemed to feel that this was perhaps their one big chance to prove their bravery once and for all against the evil embodied before them. Corey proceeded to get swarmed by children and hit with lightsabers and sticks. He also had his cape stepped on which not only caused the helmet to fall off balance, thus causing a loss of vision, but also choked him. Corey was done. Luckily the next year they missed their Vader for Halloween cause they were out of the country, and for the years after that, the kids didn't remember the poor Vader costume anymore (much to the father's relief).

So then came Halloween 2013. Tiffanie saw the Darth Vader costume boxed up high in the garage with dust it had collected from the past 3 years. Hmm, I began to think, I bet I know of a certain group of clever and funny people who could use this, and they might even enjoy it (aka wouldn't be attacked by kids wearing it) and they could also give lots of other people a good laugh while wearing it... Studio C anyone? Darth Sidious?

Yes, this is a good idea. So I facebooked Studio C a message to ask if they'd like a super cool "ultimate supreme" official Darth Vader replica costume for their wardrobe. When they said they'd love it, I thought I'd ask for everyone's consent (unlike when I purchased it). Corey was happy cause not only would he be glad to officially get rid of it, but to give it to BYU, even better, he'd do anything for BYU. And the kids would do anything for Studio C, it is a win-win. Before we delivered it, I let the kids attack the box with markers and write their favorite sketch quotes on it along with a few notes to the cast.

The toddlers even got in on the action. Lily drew lots of hearts and some of the letters of the alphabet~

And Sophi did a good job following what her siblings did, which, as far as she could tell, was to hurry and scribble on the box somewhere and then switch your marker and do it again. (It was cute)

So it has now come full circle - we bought this when we were in student housing at BYU and now the BYU Broadcasting Building will be it's permanent home, how appropriate. And hopefully we'll all see Darth Vader soon on BYUtv!!

**Update**

I got this picture on 11/19 from Studio C saying thanks for the love notes plastered all over the box that the costume was in. Could they tell that we love them? :)

~The kids felt pretty special. So fun, love Studio C!