Sunday General Conference

Today was a lot like yesterday for most of the kids. 

Not ideal, but I guess I was like that as a teenager too. I don't have many memories of the messages  from General Conference. The general memory I have of all those Aprils and Octobers is conference being playing on a small black and white tv in the living room of our split level home, and us gathering in the living room with pillows and blankets, and... falling asleep. For the afternoon session today, Sophi gave a more valiant effort and she came and watched Conference upstairs with me. She had me roll her up in our floor rug. 

I'm not sure she could hear well in there, but it was not comfortable, so in that way it helped her not fall asleep.

So that's what the teens have been doing. And the toddlers have contently been playing games all day. Peter's got a nice big ocean for the Little People Pirate ship,

And that sea is being shared with Owen and Daniel's lego pirate ships. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the pirate ship is captain Hooks ship, and Captain Hook is a Little People Pilgrim guy from the Thanksgiving set. 

Peter has the Little People Robin Hood being Peter Pan.

The Calico Tree House is the Lost Boys hideout! 

The shepherds from the Christmas Nativity are the lost boys, and the Nativity angel is Tinkerbell! I loved seeing that - so cute and creative! Hooray for cross play toys!! I love it.

Tonight Mel, Christian, Lily and I played a good game of Go For It.

I am actually finally blogging this in February 2026 (Feb 3 to be exact) and I can't remember the details about the game, like what our careers were, but I remember it was fun. For the game, the rules say you have to get three of each type of "status" card: Homes, Cars, Feeling Good (clothes and possessions), Goin' Places (Vacations).  You have to give each other birthday gifts if the game piece lands on your birthday, and that could be brutal. I made sure to collect enough of the "cheap" stuff, like the going places and feeling good cards that were just a couple of thousand bucks, so that I didn't have to give away a $30K car or a $400K home to someone for their birthday. 

You would have to do if that was the only cards you had on hand... such generous friends to give away $1000-$5000 gifts! I didn't even want to go to their party. I also remember some of us getting lucky when a rich uncle died and left us his inheritance right when we needed it and you could chose any status card. I usually chose a house for that. Christian says he remembers that Lily had a lot more cars and vacations than she wanted. I declared "Go for it" at the end, then everyone else did too, and I didn't have all the cards I needed but I got lucky with a "News" that I picked up that was just what I needed to get my final status card, yay. So yeah, I remember it was fun and there was some luck involved for the winner. 

Katharine drew a smiley face today. 

This might be the first one we've captured.

And then one more event from tonight, for the first time ever, Katharine was put in "the hold". 

My older kids have all been accusing Corey and I of having "gone soft" and being "too easy" on Katharine. So I sent them that pic and said "I hope you are all happy." Hyrum probed for more information: "On what charges?" followed up with "And yes, I am. I love her, but she needs a little more of that. She's spoiled." Ethan sent a message "I was really happy to hear that she's in the hold, but that picture should be... she should be in more distress than she looks. I don't think you're doing it right dad. There should be some tears streaming or, I don't know... she looks a little too happy to be in the hold. She needs to look completely broken." 

I came to his and Katharine's defense. "She was too docile for the hold to have much effect. She squirmed for a second and then gave up." She's just a sweetheart and accepts disciplining very quickly. So that that all you older kids who resisted our correction and disciplining! If you had done it RIGHT you could have gotten out as quickly as our sweet angel Katharine!