(Practicing his talk.)
Scout was assigned his first talk in primary. I was the original writer, but Nonnie came in and fine tuned it. We worked with Scout for about two weeks on it, and by the end, he had the whole thing memorized and said it with pizazz. When he gave it, he had some visitors — Broccoli, Haven and B. Tack. But the real treat was when he finished, B was all choked up watching her little boy grow up. Micah had been away all week while we practiced, so we saved the whole poem as a surprise for him. He is such a good boy, and we were all so proud of him.
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I have a surprise to show you
It’s my very favorite book
It has the coolest stories
Come on, let’s take a look.
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Nephi is my first hero
He is righteous, good and strong.
He’s a really good example
Of never choosing wrong.
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Abinadi told wicked King Noah
“Repent and Choose the Right”
Abinadi was brave while burned at the stake
But Noah was wicked the rest of his days.
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Alma listened to Abinidi
And believed in the words he said.
He became a great prophet
And changed others by the truth he spread.
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There are lots of stories in this book
That always teach me to Choose The Right.
I want to be a great missionary,
By helping others follow Jesus’ light.
My little twirp got into a place where she wasn’t supposed to — Bella’s chapstick drawer. There are usually minimal consequences…Bella gets mad when all of her chapstick is eaten. This time, things went a little differently. Bella, a teeth grinder while she sleeps, was having a rough night. She got out an Ambien and bit off about 1/4 of it. So the next day, as Sushi was being naughty in Bella’s drawers, she got a hold of the rest of that Ambien. Well, before we knew what happened, she was in Nonnie’s room with her mouth opened saying, “yucky”. I guess it is mother’s intuition, because I immediately knew she had eaten a pill. I called Tristen to ask her what loose pill she had out, and she told me about 8 mg of an Ambien. I immediately called Poison control. They urged me to go straight to the hospital. In the meantime, Navy was walking around like a drunken sailor. She was hitting things left and right, and couldn’t even stand still without falling down. I then called Carruthy, the best doctor on the planet. He told me that it would take a few hours to run its course, but that she would be fine….and there was no hospital necessary. So after we knew all was well, we got the show of our lives. This girl was hilarious. But during her bath, she said, “Mama, I tired. I want to go night night.” I kind of thought it was going to be a night off, and because the doctor said it was fine for her to sleep, I was looking forward to a little one on one time with Scout. But if there is one thing I have learned over the past two years with Icka, it is that nothing usually goes as planned with her. So instead of the Ambien putting her out like a light, it wired her so unbelievably much, I could have died. From 5:30 until 11:00, I was at every whim of a bossy little two year old. She wanted her DayDay, she wanted snacks, she wanted to go into Nonnie’s room, she wanted to go downstairs, she wanted to read a book, she wanted to watch Namo, she wanted to eat some gum, etc.etc.etc. And that was all within a one minute span. My mom was rolling at the little terror go. I kept telling Tristen she was in charge because she caused this mess, but she informed me that the little girl who had not followed the rules had been the real cause. It wasn’t until 11:15, and after multiple attempts to get her in one of many beds, that I finally took her by the hand to my bed. There was no moon out and it was pitch black. I laid her next to me, and didn’t say a word. On the flip side, she was saying plenty…..”Mom…it’s late”, “it’s dark”, “I can’t see anything”, “Mama…say what”, “Mama, mama, mama”. After about twenty minutes of trying to get my attention without response, I heard little snores. Apparently, the Ambien had finally kicked in.
All I have to say is that pregnancy sickness is the pits. The part about not feeling great is yucky, but the part about leaving your two kids high and dry at times is the part that really kills me. Luckily we live in a house where there are so many people coming and going, it usually makes up a lot of ground for me. Especially when Micah is on a week long Vegas work trip. So lately, here are a couple of things that have filled my kid’s life….
My friend Erika invited us to Sky High. It was full of trampolines, and my kids both loved it. Scout for all two hours, and Icka for about one.
Nonnie gets a LOT of visits every day. Especially for snacks late at night. (Now you might think this is first thing in the morning as Nonnie is in a robe and all — but this is about 7:30 pm. Sorry Nonnie — did I just “out” you?)
We like to spend as much time as we can with the Brockbanks. I love being with them because Megan has done quite a good job of teaching her kids to do the heavy lifting around adults. I also love the cousin love they all share.
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We also hit up Partyopolis a few days ago, we love hanging with Bella when she isn’t in a dieting bad mood, unfortunately movies are a bit more popular around here, and there isn’t a better time in the day than around 5:00 when I listen for the front door to open with B’s keys hitting the front table. My kids are glued to her for a while, and amazingly enough, she is glued to them most days.
And then there is one friend who calls me to see if I can watch her kid while I am in a bad way. Scummy likes to drop her kids off so I can watch them and let “Scout have a buddy to play with”.
YEAH RIGHT.
Looks like someone wanted a little peace and quiet at her own home.
Scout orchestrated this little carpet picnic of nuts.
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And to top it all off, I had my third doctor’s appointment today. I was eager to get off my progesterone (what I am convinced is making me sick). But unfortunately, besides my anemia and bladder infection I had no clue of, he told me that I have bleeding behind my uterus, and that I need to stay on my pills to hopefully help. He also said that I am “doing to much” and that I need to cool it. My mom almost passed out from laughter about me doing too much. (And I will admit, I have put the brakes on a bit lately.) He told me that he wants me to be on bed rest most of the time, and to not do any lifting. The consequence could be another M if I am not careful. So I immediately called the Shmickity Dickity and told him that he is THE MAN now days. THE MAN who gets to do everything! He was sympathetic (which isn’t synonymous with enthusiastic), but I am just waiting for him to come home and start telling about an ailment of his own.
My girl is A MESS! This picture is after I gave her ONE orange M&M. I can’t even fathom how someone could get so filthy from so little. My mom and I have given up on trying to keep her clean. I literally get her dressed to the nines every single morning, and within minutes (not hours) she has something on her. She’s just my little piggie.
My kids are pretty good at getting along. Although I will say that some days are definitely better than others. But there is one exception on every day, and that is when they first wake up. No matter what, the one who gets up first wants to go and get the other out of bed. Even though I have expressed my disapproval of this several times, it still transacts. And then when they come and crawl into bed with me, it is just a showering of, “I love you” “Good Morning ______” “Did you have good dreams?” etc. And they hug and cuddle for a few minutes. It is really cute, and makes my mornings.
Icka isn’t understanding why I am photographing the episode.
Sissy giving back.
And my very favorite — the hand on the cheek. Since my kids were born, I have put my hand on their cheek to calm and cuddle them. They, in turn, have started doing this back to me and also each other.
Icka is on a roll lately with priceless comments.
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Every time Scout mentions anything he wants, Icka immediately says that she needs the same thing in “pink”. For example, Scout was asking if he could have a movie on yesterday, and Icka immediately said, “I want a ‘pink’ movie”. And even cuter is that when I clarify that she wants hers in “pink”, she explains to me that Scout actually wants his in “yellow”.
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When she first comes in and cuddles in the morning, the first thing she says to me is “Mom, I lub you.” And anytime throughout the day, when I tell her that I love her, she says, “I lub you too.” She spreads her love freely which seems so contradictory to the way she acts a lot of the time. But her words resonate — even during her stinky times.
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When I was little, if any of us pouted, my mom would tell us that a bird was going to come and poop on our lip. (The bottom one that was sticking out.) It usually made us laugh, and got us out of our foul mood. Scout never pouted, so I never used the same tactic. But Icka started up the “bird” in our house. And she has gotten pretty good at immediately smiling her huge cheesy grin as soon as I start saying it. Because if she doesn’t, I take my pointer finger pull her bottom lip down while I call out “poop”. But she has turned the tables on us. Now she comes up to me all of the time and gets my lip with her bird.
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“Pee Pee” is a bad word in our family, and I have heard her sit in her car seat and chant, “Pee pee pee pee pee pee pee pee…Mom, I’m saying Pee pee.” I used to get her in trouble for doing something naughty intentionally, but now I have learned to act like I can’t hear her, and it seems to go away pretty quickly.
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“I do it” is as common as air around here.
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every once in a while I know something I have tried to teach her shines through. Especially when I ask her to do something, and she immediately responds with, “Sure.”
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And the best for last –
Lately, when Icka is around me while I am getting ready, she showers me with, “Mama, you are so pretty.” Or, “Mama, you have pretty hair.” Or, “Mama, you look so cute.” I don’t know how it is possibly that she makes me feel like a million, but when my little pesky two year old starts complimenting me, I usually grab her and kiss her all over her face a million times. Life can’t get much better than those moments.
We were all in the Family Night Room when a very serious storm brewed, and started dumping. Micah went down to pull anything inside that needed to be, and you could hear him hooting and hollering all the way upstairs. I went down to see what the excitement was all about, and about a minute later, the Tweedles came down with their gear on. I helped them both with umbrellas, and out they went. (But by this time, the rain had lightened quite a bit.)
I love a good storm — but not as much as my kids do!
Scout loves TBall.
Maybe it is the ridiculously large cheering section he has.
Here is the team — Scout is in the front….apparently stretching.
This is what Icka does during the game. Eats and hangs with the girls.
And of course gets injured. But don’t be too concerned — within 20 seconds of being hurt, she shouted “Now I can play” and returned to the festivities.
(Probably the most heinous self portrait ever taken.)
Scout came into my bed this morning to cuddle. After telling me he loved me and kissing the baby a few times, we started up “would you rather….” It went a little like this:
M: Would you rather be a crocodile or a big huge whale?
S: A Crocodile so I could swim in the ucky water.
M: Would you rather be an elephant or a monkey?
S: A Monkey so I could swing from the trees.
M: Would you rather be a bumble bee or a butterfly?
S: A Butterfly because they have beautiful colors.
M: Would you rather live in the freezing cold or the boiling hot?
S: I would want to live in the snow and have the sunshine make us warm.
Then he gave me a clue as to what to ask next –
S: Ask me if I would rather be an elephant or a kid.
M: Would you rather be an elephant or a kid?
S: I would only rather be YOUR kid.
And then he smooched me all over my face.
I’ll take that game any morning of the week.
Scout, Navy and I headed to the dollar store to pick up things to catch the leprechauns this year. We found some gold gift boxes and a green basket that we were sure would do the trick!
Scout told Daddy exactly what to write to entice the weasels. (”We dare you to come inside our house and try to steal our gold”, “This is not a trap”, etc.) After writing the messages, we all chomped on some bubblegum and then put the sticky wads inside the boxes. We were sure that the leprechauns would stick their hands in and get stuck while the basket dropped on top of them.
Here is the finished product.
But wait — we got sabotaged by Sissy who went into the packages herself to get the ABC gum all to herself. Talk about the real weasel.
The next morning, the kids were freaking out. There was a HUGE mess everywhere, the toilet water was green, the milk was green. We knew they had come, and even had dropped some of their loot, but did we catch one???
NO!!!!
But we got SO close this year. We could tell the leprechaun got stuck on the gum, but was tricky enough to take his belt off to get free. We even caught some leprechaun hair in another. We can’t believe how fast these little guys are, but we are plotting our trap for next year!
Well, not this girl. She just spent days plotting on how to get up high to the chocolate coins Mommy hid.
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