Devotional and Dating

Sophi gave a talk in Primary at church today, AND she wrote it all by herself! I thought she did such a good job! Super cute. I'll write it out but will correct the misspelled words, but look at the photo to see some of those incorrect words (like "izerlight"! - cute.)

"My talk: In the Book of Numbers, the Israelites finally made it to the promised land, but were all scared and focused on how hard it would be and how they saw giants and blah blah blah. Sometimes we can be like the Israelites when we are given a task, we only look at the negative things and not look and see all of our blessings. We want to be like Moses and the two other Israelites, Jacob and Caleb. They had complete faith, saying all the good things in stead of the had things. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Isn't that great? Good job Sophi, I'm especially impressed that you did it totally on your own! I led the Sunday school lesson today, and it went ok I think. I felt a little scattered, but hopefully it was ok. Corey teasingly pointed out afterwards that I spelled Reintegration wrong on the board (I wrote "reintigration"). That was when we were talking briefly about consecration and the Nazarite Vow, which plays a fun part in the story our courtship. We made a few Nazarite Vows with each other. 

My biggest take away from this week's lesson is, like Sophi pointed out, that I really want to learn to trust God and not fear. Fear not is a message that the Savior repeated over and over again. Fear is the opposite of faith, and not just faith in, but FAITH! We sang "I Believe in Christ" as the closing song in sacrament meeting today, but as we said that line, I thought "I Believe Christ" - the fourth verse really touched me and made me tear up - 

I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!

From him I’ll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”

I believe in Christ; so come what may,

With him I’ll stand in that great day

When on this earth he comes again

To rule among the sons of men.

We may have a dream of our promised land, like the children of Israel did. Christ will help us gain it! He says "Ye shall obtain!" He wants to give it to us, He CAN give it to us, don't look at the challenges, but trust. We may have to strive through grief and pain, but we can obtain it. Christ said it's possible, so IT IS POSSIBLE! BELIEVE HIM. We can build Zion. That is our promised land today. Believe it is possible. Imagine it! I think the book The Enoch Letters by Neal A Maxwell was a great exercise in imagining what it is like to live there and what I'd tell someone else about it. Imagine myself there. Those were some of my thoughts after church, and they continued as I listened to the Devotional tonight with President and Sister Nelson addressing the Single Adults of the Church. She told us to ask ourselves "What would a holy young adult do?" and since I'm not a young adult anymore, I thought of myself instead as a citizen of Zion, and so I'm going to experiment with "What would a citizen of Zion do?" :)

Joseph went downtown for the devotional, and Mel was going to get a ride with him, so I took her to the freeway so he could pick her up. When Life360 told me that he was a 20 minute drive away, I figured we best leave. I didn't notice the speed that he was going... 6 mph. It was 20 minutes away for me, driving south, but Joseph was coming up from Provo, and BYU... where there were a whole lot of other Young Single Adults driving up for the devotional. It took him 45 minutes instead of 20. There were a few accidents on the road. We called each other a few times, to see if maybe I should drive her further south to him. At one point he said "we're just going to come to the house" so Mel and I turned around and headed home, but then we noticed that his speed had increased significantly, so we called him, he didn't answer, then he called us "Hey I think we're going to go for it!" so I turned around again and brought Mel back to the freeway again. They did make it down and were able to watch it in one of the overflow locations. 

Joseph brought Mel back home, and he was with a mission companion named Jared. They were talking about dating for a while, and some of their complaints about the whole dating process. They talked about the Mutual app and another app that Jared said is better than Mutual. Joseph and Jared were both complaining a bit about girls who don't follow protocol, like texting a "thank you" or some kind of follow up after a date. It was funny listening to them, cause Mel is one of those that might not be following the unwritten rules they were talking about. They insisted it is just common polite manners, but Mel said "If you're not interested, that might be leading them on..." It then turned into a continuation of the conversation Mel and Joseph were having last week after he came up for Mother's day. We had been watching the movie Unbroken with the kids, and there's one part where the guys are starving on the raft stranded in the ocean and tried to attract a bird. Mel shared an Instagram video of a guy who sat out in his yard with birdseed in his hands for hours, and eventually had birds eating out of his hands. "That's how to get a girl. They need to not feel threatened, to feel that it's safe, to have the freedom to come and go..." Joseph thought that was ridiculous. His last words as he closed the door and headed to his car last Sunday - "Its impossible..." and 10 minutes later, after pondering quietly in his car, he left a message for Corey, sounding irritated but also sincere - "Speaking of trying to catch a bird though... so in the movie, they were really still, they held a shiny object to attract it, so... at which point do you pounce?" referring to this this clip). Corey was laughing so hard and replied "Well, you only pounce if you want to kill it..." You can't pounce when you're finding your wife.  So, still talking about last week, after Joseph arrived back in Provo, he sent Corey a clip of this part of The Sandlot movie. I guess he's seen the light. He's been going about dating all wrong. But tonight he still vented about it a bit. He's frustrated with the dating scene at the moment and got some understanding sympathy from Jared. Take it slow and be patient, you young men. Trust and fear not! She's out there, you'll find her!

It was also a lunar eclipse tonight. It was cloudy but we were able to see it in it's red eclipse for a little bit. Very cool. I love the miracles of nature. 

Another Run Around Saturday

Much like last Saturday, today was another busy run around day. Corey and I went to the Draper Temple for the 7:00 am session, were home at 9:30, Wes was gone at a YMAD meeting, we woke up kids, had muffins for breakfast, Mel took Abi to her soccer game for me, Lily needed to go to the store to get a b-day present for a friend, Mel got back, Corey left with NODP and he used the Get Out Pass to take them to the Kangaroo Zoo again, the one in Pleasant Grove this time. They loved it and were gone until like 4:30. I left at 1 with L&S, we picked up Abi from her game, took Sophi to her soccer game at a different field, then A&L went to Target and I went to TJ Maxx and got a few things for the baby (hat and socks) and then picked them up, took A back home, took Lily to Fat Cats on 37th S for her friends bday party, and almost went by Costco on my way back, but calculated the time to drive there, and even if I was super fast, I'd prob be late picking up Sophi, and I didn't want to be late, so I went to pick her up. They had a cute little end of season ceremony. Sophi had filled out a questionnaire thing and said what she liked about all her team mates and what she likes about soccer, so the coach compiled all that and read one for each player. 

Sophi's turn to be spotlighted.

I don't know if we'll have Sophi keep playing on this team next year, mostly cause I'll have a baby and I don't want to make it happen, and Corey's already got too much on his plate. So we'll see. Tryouts are in two weeks and I haven't registered her yet. I'm leaning to just doing rec soccer and not this competivite team. So this might be her last time with this team and these players. She might have been glad to have me there for the little end of season celebration, but I was in a time crunch and that went on for 30 minutes, and I was thinking darn, I guess I could have, maybe should have gone to Costco before, cause Father David was coming over for dinner at 5:30 and I didn't have any food ready and hadn't been home to clean up the house for company. I texted Abi to ask if she would mow and clean up. Then Sophi and I hurried to Costco, we got fruit and stuff for a green salad, and I decided to do sandwiches & chips as the main dish with sides of sushi, and shrimp. I got home at 4:20 and hurried and cut up food and set out condiments. Mel got home from the temple, she did initiatories, and I left her in charge of the food while I left to go pick up Lily. Her party was done at 5, and that's what time I left, so I was late picking her up, I passed Corey in the neighborhood on my way out, he came back with ODP and made some tapioca pudding, which Father D really likes. I was back at 5:50 with Lily and they had waited for us to start dinner. I didn't visit much, I ate some sushi and shrimp and then tried to wake up Peter, but instead I fell asleep with him and Father David had left when I woke up. He is moving to Texas in two weeks. Corey called Diego after Father D left, and I guess they are moving too, probably to Nebraska he said. So yeah, there is my ramble on sentence of our run around day. I knew it was going to be busy, I'm glad I went on a bike ride yesterday cause I didn't have time to myself today. Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. I'm leading the discussion in Gospel Doctrine, I used any spare time I had today to go over notes for that. It's on the book of Numbers. It's my last time teaching before the baby comes, yay! Corey will probably sub for me next month. Ok, going to head to bed and then get up early and finish a little bit of last minute preparations for Sunday School class.

School Stuff and Evening Ride

Me again. I'm still here. I was struggling today with my usual last trimester complaints, but I had to leave the house cause Owen had a bike rodeo at school at 10 and Sophi had a Safety Patrol swearing in ceremony. The Safety patrol thing was at 9:30. Daniel and Peter came with me. 

I was asked yesterday to help run a station at the bike rodeo, and I didn't say I could, cause I had to go to Sophi's thing, but after checking with Mel, I offered her services. We were still a car short in the morning and Wes had the van at seminary, so Corey stayed home, I drove over in his car, Mel rode a bike over, but I forgot Owen's bike, so as soon as Sophi's thing was done, which thankfully was only 30 minutes, I drove home and got Owen's bike and then back to the school. Mel gave Owen his helmet and he saw his bike.

Yay I saved the day! Mel ready to help, Owen in front of her.

The kids were all home early from school, since Friday's are early out. Thankfully Burt Bros called after lunch and the fiesta was fixed and only needed the work that they had quoted me last week. We were grateful there wasn't more that needed to be fixed. With the fiesta back, Wes was able to take Owen to his trumpet lesson and I still had a car here at home. The kids all played, and I rested and ate more than needed physically, but it was what I needed emotionally/mentally. When time for date night was getting closer, I wasn't hungry. Corey and I texted if we should go to the temple tonight instead of tomorrow morning, and then maybe go on a bike ride in the morning. He already went on a ride this morning though, his longest yet at 11 miles, so he wasn't interested in doing that. I was up for temple or a ride, but not for eating. Anyway, we decided to not go out to eat, to count the temple tomorrow morning as our date this week, and I went to the store for a few items (treats for Owen and Natalie's summer birthday celebrations at school next week) and then I went in a bike ride by myself and it was great. 

I loved seeing the spring green in the trees this time!

I am excited for lost of rides this summer. I started my ride quite early for an evening ride, and I knew I had time before it was dark, so I parked at Draper City Park and biked to corner canyon from there and then did the BST to Potato Hill, Ann's East to Ghost Falls loop that Corey and I did last Friday. But with the extra ride from the city park, it ended up being a long 11.82 mile ride. 

...and, since Corey's ride this morning was 11 miles, and since I got 11.82, I teased him a little bit that I just had to go so long so I could beat him. He beat me in elevation and speed though. I think I had a better location, I don't love doing LCC, it's too steep, but maybe after the baby is out of me I'll feel up to trying it again. Corner Canyon is lovely and there are lots of options for trails for whatever you're in the mood for. I was done just as the sun was setting. 

It was gorgeous and saved my mood and restored my hope that I can survive the next 18 days until this baby is born. 

Training

Exciting news: we're close to having successfully potty trained our 12th child. So, that is what this blog post is about. Feel free to read on if you're wondering how it went for us this time. Past trainings: Lily, Sophi (she was harder to train), Natalie, Owen, Daniel. A little over two weeks ago, Corey said it was really time to teach this kid to use the toilet. I don't know why it's always Corey that decides when this should happen. Maybe he can tell I'm avoiding it? Ugh. I didn't have it in me and I didn't want to do it. Peter hasn't been addicted to a bottle like Daniel, so he doesn't go through many diapers at all, I don't want to be taken out of my comfort zone in this area while I'm in my 8th month of pregnancy, but... fine. Corey started dropping hints in March and the training potty has been in our bathroom. Peter likes his book and has sat willingly on a few occasions during March and April, so, I kinda tried then, Peter had a few hit and misses over those weeks. Here he is on April 26, reading his puppy potty book - 

Then last week, as Corey brought it up again, I thought "Well, Peter does wake up dry..." Corey wasn't nagging me about it, but I decided I could and would put forth a token effort by trying to catch Peter and helping him go in the mornings. That would be easy enough, and maybe it would help him get the hang of it. The first morning, he sat on his little potty watching tv for an hour - nothing, then I let him have breakfast and luckily he was still dry, so then I had him sit for another 2 hours and he was surprised when he had his first success. Good job Peter! After that I didn't want to worry about it so I put a diaper back on him. The next morning, same thing but it was faster. I put PBS kids on via my phone on the side of the tub this time and he sat there and waited. That only took like 20 minutes. We've had success every morning since and I got brave enough to put the thick training underwear on him. He had one accident when we were at violin (and I forgot to bring spare clothes, so he wore a diaper and no pants after that) but that was the last accident and he soon got #1 totally down. He would even go pull down his pants on his own and seemed very pleased with himself that he learned a new skill. I've let him go without underwear cause those were a little hard for him to get off and that's made it easier for him. He's independent with that and has used the big potty too.

Oh, and not wearing underwear makes him stop with #2 faster, cause he doesn't like the feeling of a mess rolling around in his pant legs, which happened like 3 times. He was starting to understand the feelings of when it was coming on and what to do. This past Monday, he hadn't gone #2 for over 24 hours and I knew it was coming. He caught himself after only making a slight mess in his pants, and came running and I sat him down on the little potty. But the #2 was too big and was still touching him after it should have been gone and off him, so he was freaking out, so I picked him up from the training potty and moved him through the air over to our toilet, and the #2 that he was finishing trying to poop fell on the floor and I didn't see it but I did feel it as I stepped right in it, all between my toes. I don't think that's happened since I was a kid and stepped in dog do. Peter's #2 smells linger big time. Like even when he was in diapers, after a #2, I had to give him a bath and change his clothes or else he just kept smelling poopy all day. So I washed my foot but I had to use my hands, and scrub and sanitized afterward as much as I might, much like his clothes, the smell was on my hand the rest of the day. But that's been the grossest moment and I don't think it will get any worse than tat. I'm hopeful that most of the hard work, cause yesterday we had our first #2 complete success in the toilet, and with that success, he's been accident free for 3 days. He was diaper free today and I think he's close to having #2 down, fingers crossed. There will probably be a few accidents here and there, but it's wasn't a long and painful experience. So this is a nice surprise for me - I've had a child in diapers for the past 22 years, and now I get a break for 2+ weeks! Wow! We are diaper free for the first time since January 2000 when our decades of diapers began after Joseph was born. Pretty exciting. 

Violin and Soccer

Another usual Monday. The boys and I chilled at home, we're potty training Peter so that is one reason we're staying home a lot, the other reason being that I'm pregnant and have no energy for anything. We got a phone call from Elder Ethan, then I took Sophi and Natalie to violin. Here's a cute video of Peter reading a book there today - 

And after violin, we headed home where I had thought to leave the kids, but they wanted to come, so I took SNDP with me to Bluffdale for Sophi's soccer game. So one of the things I have not been loving about her being on this competition team, is the games that fall on school nights. 

I'm also not loving soccer cause they have practice twice a week, which means I have to leave the house. My not loving it might also be because I'm pregnant and don't want to do anything. We got Sophi there at 6:00, 45 minutes before the game, as required, and she went to warm up with her team, the kids played on the playground, and I sat in the car. 

It was kinda chilly, so once they were cold enough and a little before half time in Sophi's game, I got NDP the kids in the car and we drove to get a pizza for them to eat for dinner. 

They warmed up as they ate it in the car, then went back to play for a bit. 

Then we walked over to catch the last of Sophi's game. I watched the game while Natalie, Daniel and Peter rolled down the hill.

Go #14!

We saved Sophi a slice of pizza. NDP each had two slices and I was going to let Sophi have two, but then I ate one, after rationalizing to myself that she'll have just had after game snacks. Sophi was nice and wasn't upset about it. Heading to the car after the game. 

I think they lost, not a big deal. Sophi's having fun, but I think she'd have just as much fun doing rec, so we'll see what we decide to do next year. Tryouts are the last week of May, and I don't have the desire to do anything about it, so it prob won't happen unless Corey does it. We'll see what happens. She only has one more game, which is this Saturday, and then we're done. I think I'll be glad when Maycember is over. 

Mother's Weekend

I had an appropriate Mother's Day eve, with a ton of running around. It was a little worse that normal Saturdays cause the Fiesta is in the shop. It's no fun being down a car. Corey and I went to the temple early, and called home to the kids as soon as we were out to make sure that Wes and Abi were up and on their way to a neighbors house so they could get a ride to a service project with our Church Stake. It was for a FSY kickoff day long activity of service, fun at Classic Skating, and then a fireside with Briton Covey. Mel was up and on her way with the van to some volunteer thing with the Red Cross. She was home at noon, in time for me to take the van and go pick up Abi and Wes at Classic skating. Corey took LSNODP out to Kangaroo Zoo with the Get Out Pass, which I ordered in November and we gave to the kids for Christmas, but we only activated it now. Corey and the kids were looking at the choices and trying to decide where to go: 

So they went to have fun there, and Mel wanted to go to the store, so she came with me to pick up Abi and Wes and then the four of us went by Costco. Then home for Abi to get ready for a flute masterclass at 3. That was down by the U of U. I took her there, then came back home for 40 minutes before leaving again to take Mel downtown for a date. Then back over to the Zion Lutheran church to pick up Abi at 5, then dropped her off at a friends house. Wes was home doing homework the whole time. H He was going to stay for the activity and fireside, but he was feeling a little sick, so one of the leaders (our bishop) told him to go home and get some rest, cause Wes needed to be well enough to give a talk at Church today! Corey was on his way back home around 4, but took the kids our for tacos first - 

...then I got back home to get Sophi and Natalie and take them to a violin spring concert at Brighton. 

Sophi front and center. Here's a video of the group playing Minuet 2. I think it always sounds so nice to have a big group playing together! Sophi is toward the right in a mid length skirt and black boots, and Natalie is to the left, in a full length black skirt. They did a great job.

After the whole studio performance was done, we stayed there until about 8 listening to the special performing group Rocky Mountain Strings. Two of our neighbors are in that group. I was so impressed. It was pretty amazing playing. We left at 8 to go pick up Abi, then Mel texted that she was done with her date and on her way to Sandy via Trax, so we went straight there via freeway to pick her up, then home at 9. Yay, and that was my day in the car. 

In addition to a very Mom-appropriate Mother's Day Eve, it was also an appropriate Mother's day night, cause Peter was crying a lot and being a stinker. He hasn't been like that most nights, but he must have knows it was Mother's day. He does this thing where he wants to feel that you are there, so he'll either keep putting his feet on you/kick you or will put his hands on you/punch you, just to be sure you are near. He mostly kept hitting me in the face and kicking my tummy, so that wasn't very fun. I tried to get away from him around 5 am and went downstairs to the living room to sleep on the couch, and Peter found me there an hour or so later. He's cute, but his sleeping habits are sometimes not ideal. 

Hence, I woke up in not a great mood and not rested. I could tell I was still in the restless mom run around mode from yesterday and from not having a great night sleep. I am 36 weeks pregnant today, so officially full term, and I'm trying to exercise faith/plead with God to let this baby come asap and not make me wait another 3 weeks. I don't really believe that will happen, but am praying "Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief". It would be nice to have this done asap, cause I have a feeling that I'm going to go through one more pregnancy, cause I have prayed about how many kids we should have and the answer I got (end of this post) means I'm probably not done. 

Church was nice today. Wesley's talk was good. He referenced a Sheri Dew talk from 2001 called "Are We Not All Mothers" and a quick story of a mom experience I had, when I accidentally stepped on the nail of a pinewood derby car wheel and I was bleeding, and the kids came to help, but instead they got queasy at the blood and had to excuse themselves and Ethan fainted so I was trying to help myself and help them. It was a funny story from like around 2008, before my blogging days. The mom's all got a chocolate treat. I helped out in a primary activity where the kids got a few clues and tried to guess who we were by our feet and with help of the clues. My toenail polish gave me away, but my clues did to. I could hear my kids gasp with excitement of "I know who it is!!!". My clues were: I like soccer. I'm an artist, I play violin, and the give away clue was I have a lot of children. The kids gifted me very nice cards and letters. Sophi made a little pillow, Owen had two papers - one from church and a card from school. Hyrum wrote me a snail mail letter, Lily drew a card with a picture and letter inside. Ethan and Hyrum both called after church and we had a nice visit. 

The kids watched "Unbroken" while we got dinner ready and we finished watching it after people left. Joseph came up from BYU. There was one clip in the movie (where they catch the albatross) that ties in with a conversation that Joseph and Mel had afterwards about dating that was really funny, that I'll try to talk about later. It was funny and Corey was loving it and laughing really hard since they were both speaking from their male and female perspectives. Corey's family came over at 4pm and Joseph kept everyone entertained us with his rendition of "Piano Man" complete with harmonica as we finished setting out the food.

We had a nice dinner and visit and then we had fun afterwards as we watched old videos and looked at old pictures on the big screen, like this one of our cousins who are now teens but then toddlers looking like Adam and Eve digging in the sandbox together!

Joseph made a nice Instagram post to me (that's how this next generation pays tribute):

I'm the best mom he could ever ask for. Aww. "She's by far one of the most patient, loving, and selfless people I have ever met. Love you Mom!

Me heading to a BYU family Halloween party in 2004 - I'm Captain Hook with my cute baby Hyrum as Mr. Smee and Joseph as Peter Pan!

Before everyone left I went up and called my mom for a little visit. My mom is great. She's rock solid and salt of the earth. It was a nice mother's day. 

Kindergarten Orientation

Today I took Daniel over to the school for kindergarten orientation! 

Abi and Owen and Peter came with us too. Daniel got to go see his class and meet his teacher while I sat in a short meeting. 

This little boy is very excited to start school. He turned 5 last September, so he missed the end of August cut off to start last year. I don't think it's been too hard for him to wait, but yeah, he is excited and ready to start school! 

Meeting Mrs Fulton.

He is very social and I know he's going to make a lot of friends and have a lot of fun at school! We're excited for him. So, this fall, Daniel will be off at school with the rest of the kids, and I'll be home with Peter and the new baby. Peter today put on some of Sophi's glasses and was feeling like a smarty pants. He said "Look! I Hyrum!"

I texted that to Hyrum, and he liked knowing that Peter remembers him (...or atleast that he is the brother that wears glasses). Peter was being super sweet and funny today, playing with and teasing Abi. 

He started by teasing her with a slinky, then moved on to his McQueen car and would tease "Come and get it!" 

I was laying on the bed trying to rest (just a little over 3 weeks to go until this baby is delivered) and they were cute to watch. Here's another video of their fun. Nothing exciting, just capturing a cute moment between them. Pere is a cutie.

Bandits and Fiesta

As a mother's day treat, we Utah Hibberts arranged for us all to go out to dinner with my mom and dad. We went to Bandits. Group selfie taken by Jared - You can't see Corey behind me and only get half of Jared...

I took a photo from the other side of the table. If we combine those two shots, we get everyone in. 

It was nice to visit. It wasn't busy since it was a Thursday so we had fun staying as long as we wanted. I arranged for Abi's flute lesson to be online so that we didn't have to worry about that. This dinner out marked another "last" for this pregnancy, cause I bet that I'll have a baby by the next time I see any of them, yay. I've got a little over 3 weeks left. At my doctor appointment on Monday, we talked about my being induced, and I'll be 39 weeks on May 29th, but they prob won't induce then cause that's a Sunday. And he said the hospital prob won't do it on Memorial day either, so it looks like May 31st might be the day, and that will be fun, cause that is my mom's birthday! So that would make it extra special. My dad shares a birthday with Jerusha's last child, and so now my mom might get a shared birthday too. Fun.

One unfortunate event - last night when Wes was leaving for the youth activity with our ward, he backed up the car from the garage, but then could not get it in gear. Corey tried to help, and it was not working. The clutch had gone out. So we left it in the street and got it towed today to Burt Brothers so they could take a look at it. 

Hyrum loves this car, so I sent a picture and asked them to use their strong missionary faith to say a prayer for the Fiesta, that it won't need a new transmission or repairs that are too expensive. It's going to be a bit of a hassle trying to run the family's events with only two cars this week, but I trust we'll manage. 

Toddler Expedition

Tonight Corey, Sophi, and Peter went on a "toddler led expedition" (as Corey called it).

Corey was going to go on a one on one bike ride with Sophi, but Peter saw them leaving and wanted to come. He loves bike rides with Corey. But then Peter grabbed his "dinosaur bike ride" which is what he calls his balance bike and he wanted to ride that. Ok, so they loaded that up. Corey got a few videos that I'll upload later. They went to the Quail Hollow trail and thought it would be too much for little P to do on his own, but he was determined and didn't give up and rode (aka walked with the bike between his legs) all the way to LaCaille, with only a few falls and cries on the steep parts. I was watching them on life 360, and when it was about 30 minutes from sunset, I knew that if they returned to the car going at Peter's pace, they'd be in the dark, so I drove over to pick up Peter. "Mom you found me!" 

We sure love these kids, and Peter is especially a fun little piece of heaven to have around for all of us.

100 Day Streak!

Today is a special day for Sophi and Natalie, because it marks their 100th straight day of violin practicing! Around that time, in the Utah Suzuki Federation magazine, I read about a girl who had practiced for 600+ straight days and then missed some during a family vacation, and I was inspired. I thought "We can do this!" and so they had their lesson on January 24th and that was the first day and they have practiced every day since. On Sundays we usually sight read a few simplified hymns, and I count their Monday lessons as their practicing on those days. I was worried we'd lose the streak during our Florida trip last month, but we brought one violin and they shared it and they practiced everyday during that trip (2nd to last pic). Sure, those Florida days weren't a lot of practicing work, it was usually just doing slow practice of the new song they were working on two times, but they still did it every day! Natalie even did it our last day there at 10pm after a full day at Universal (last pic) Sophi had practiced that morning. They probably wouldn't have gotten this far without my help and reminders and insistence, but they've done most of it. I'm really proud of them! And so today, to celebrate 100 days, they got a reward. I was thinking taking them out for Costa Vida, but they wanted Chuck A Rama... We'd probably have to wait until Saturday if you want to do that. "What about Classic Skating?" Mmm, that would be even longer and we'd probably have to wait until the 14th if you want to do that. They wanted to do something today, and couldn't decide, so then I just said "Get in the car, let's go" and we did my plan. I thought they could each chose our a new dress, so we went to Kid to Kid, and Sophi decided on shoes, but then they both couldn't decide, so we decided to look somewhere else, after I bought three muslin blankets for the new baby. Then we went to Walmart. They decided for food they'd take candy. I let them each pick out 3 theater boxes of treats. 

So we did candy instead of a restaurant or eating out. And then they decided against clothes and chose a lego set instead. Sophi's was less expensive so she also got a pair of shoes. 

So good job girls. My duty is done for now, we'll have another small shopping spree in another 100 days! I have not kept a 100 day streak myself. I keep starting over and am currently on streak day 3. My left hand starts to go numb after about 10 minutes of practicing, I'm guessing from all the extra blood in my body that cuts off my nerves, which usually happens with pregnancy. 

Another thing we're going to try doing soon is a chore chart. I have not been doing a good job and getting the kids to help with chores, and I recently got a Love and Logic email that a friend forwarded to me. It put chores as a #10 level of importance, right up there with parent/child relationships! I read it to Mel and we were both inspired. She spent a lot of time today working on a chore chart poster for a race for the kids. We did that once when she was little and she remembered doing it and liked it, so she made one like that. We did it in 2014 and I remember we also did it when we were living in student housing at BYU. I'm guessing that first time is the one that she remembers, when she was young and impressionable.

Here's the email my friend sent - really good stuff! 

Does almost every day feel like a blur? Do you often find yourself wishing you had five or six more hands so you could juggle everything that comes your way? Conscientious parents in today’s world face a dizzying array of competing demands upon their time and energy. When everything heading our way feels like an ultimate essential, it can be tough to determine where to place our priorities.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would we at Love and Logic rank the importance of homework, grades, sports, chores, and parent-child relationships? As you read, keep in mind that these rankings are based on empirical research as well as decades of experience with thousands of parents, educators, and other professionals… and of course my own subconscious biases. Ultimately, all of us have to decide what’s best for our unique children, families, and schools.

 

Homework

 

1------2------{3}------4------5------6------7------8------9------10

 

Homework is important, but nearly 100 years of research has failed to give it a stellar grade. Much of the debate reflects researchers’ difficulty determining how much homework is done by kids… and how much is primarily done by their parents.

 

Provide a time and place for your children to complete their homework. Help them as long as it is fun for both of you… and as long as they are doing most of the work. Because homework only receives a three on the scale, let them be responsible for either getting it done or explaining to their teacher why they haven’t. Never fight with your kids over homework.

 

  See: Trautwein, U., & Koller, O. (2003). The relationship between homework and achievement—still much of a mystery. Educational Psychology Review, 15, 115-145. 

Grades

 

1------2------3------4------{5}------6------7------8------9------10

 

Grades are important but not as important as developing character and a passion for learning. Besides, too many kids begin to gravitate toward easier subjects and classes because they are more concerned with GPA rather than true intellectual growth.

 

Sports (and other healthy extracurricular activities)

 

1------2------3------4------5------6------7------{8}------9------10

 

Kids who participate in sports, music lessons, and other healthy extracurricular activities are far less likely to become involved in drugs, sex, and other damaging behaviors. They also tend to do better in school!

 

  See: Stephens, L. J., & Schaben, L. A. (2002, March). The effect of interscholastic sports participation on academic achievement of middle level school activities. National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 86, 34-42. 

Chores

 

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Yes! Chores are more important than homework, grades, and extracurricular activities. Chores… completed without chronic reminders and without pay… help our kids feel more tightly connected to the family team. Chores also help them to develop perseverance, combat entitlement, and build healthy self-esteem. In a Love and Logic home, kids get to do their homework and participate in extracurricular activities after they have finished contributing to the family.

 

Parent-Child Relationships

 

1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------{10}

 

Love and Logic is all about developing healthy relationships… relationships that last a lifetime. Why? Because there’s nothing more important to life-long success than our children viewing us as being simultaneously loving and strong. Too frequently this relationship is sacrificed in an attempt to nag, threaten, or punish kids into doing their homework and getting good grades.

 

Conclusion: There are many paths to success. Some kids go the traditional route, finding relatively easy success in learning and in school. Others struggle with school yet develop valuable skills through other avenues. When all is said and done, the priorities should always be placed on improving relationships, building good character, and helping kids learn to focus on their strengths.

So I thought that was really good and want to do better. The topic of delegating came up last week in our study group (2nd paragraph) when Moses was taking on too much and Jethro encouraged him to delegate, and one impression I got as I studied that was that I need to get the kids to help around the house more. They do pretty good at practicing music and doing their homework, so we're keeping those things on the chart for some easy star stickers to earn. Cleaning their rooms and doing a household chore are the two things we're going to work on these next few weeks. Those are the 4 things they need to do to get 4 stars each day - Bedroom/Clothes, Homework, Music, Household Chore. And if they are finished with everything before dinner they can get an extra star. Also they can get extra stars by doing extra chores. We'll probably officially start the chore chart race on Monday, after we introduce it on Sunday, I'll use it as a Mother's Day Gift to myself, hehe. 

Sunday Drawings

Hello May! I have been very exited for May to come, because I hope to be delivered of this child this month. Fingers crossed. It was a nice Sunday. One of our favorite things at church is seeing Peter after classes are over. He always proudly shows us the picture he colored and will tell us about Jesus. 

Back in January, Corey took this little video of Peter showing us the first vision and telling us who Heavenly Father, Jesus, and Joseph Smith were and it was so cute to hear how he said their names. 

He has the cutest little voice. (I just barely uploaded that video, I had to scroll back on our family fb messenger chat to Jan to find it!) At church, the kids often keep themselves quiet by drawing in notepad on our phones or on boogie boards. I have three boogie boards. This is a masterpiece that Wes did last week for Peter. Peter still loves Spiderman.  

After church today, we binge watched The Chosen with Mel so she could see season 2. We watched it as kids rollerskated around the house. They discovered the rollerblade bin over the weekend and are all really in the zone with it. It's cute, but a little noisy. Daniel is getting really good!

We are starting to potty train Peter. He's doing good, but also takes lots of baths lately after accidents. Natalie took a bath with him and they helped themselves to the liquid soap and made a big bubble bath. 

They turn on the jets and those make the bubble get really high. I don't always love the mess that the bubbles make but the kids sure like it, so I'm trying to be patient. 

Pretty fun!