How humiliating is it when you pick up your girl from preschool and the teacher immediately asks, “Is everything alright at home?”
I rolled my eyes and told her it was.
She explained to me that Navy was “very disrespectful” and was taunting one of the teachers.
Apparently, she was asked to line up and she wouldn’t. But when she finally decided she might, she demanded the teacher to “move”! When the teacher asked her to go around, she told her to “move now”!
The story goes on and on — to my embarrassment.
I blamed it on how kids know there is another baby coming and they act out?!
But I knew it was my stinky daughter just being naughty.
So our nighttime activity was this little note:
“Dear Ms. Kendra, I am sorry for talking rude. I will not do that again.
Please give me another chance to be nice. Heart, Navy”
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Interesting how the first page took over an hour to write, but the second took about four minutes. And that second page is nicely written — nicer than page one. And most interestingly of all, Scout was begging to have Navy play with him. But I put my foot down on my disrespectful child and told him she couldn’t play until her letter was written.
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The good news….the teachers reported the next day that she “was like a different child, and was perfect!”
Boo Yah!
Mother of the year!
I have a friend who snaps a picture of her kids each Sunday.
She must have really cooperative kids.
Because my attempt this day got me two separate pictures.
One with a smiling boy gripping a boy-on-the-run’s arm.
And a girl in show-off mode.
If my husband could, he would lounge every fall Saturday to watch every college football game on.
Thank goodness there are a few things to break up his wish.
Like Saturday morning chores, soccer games, and most of all — three kids!
Today was no different.
Of course there were the world’s best match-ups, but we first had to get some stuff done.
Like Navy and I had to make blueberry muffins for a breakfast surprise.
And then we got to go watch Scout play soccer.
On his team where a lot of the players are a head higher than he is.
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And then there was lunch, and a few errands.
But finally, football called his name so loudly, my car drove straight to where the games were being televised.
So I dropped him off with the kids, and enjoyed a little part of my fall Saturday schedule.
Freedom from it all!
And then I went home to make dinner, say prayers and get the kids in bed!
We have a saying in our family that “T.V. makes your brain dumb!”
So most often, even when I need them to veg out for 20 minutes, they remember our saying, and do something active.
This is one of their favorites — climbing trees.
You can see Scout at the bottom, and if you look closely, you can pick Navy out at the top.
Here is a closer look.
I’ll have to admit that T.V. might make your brain dumb, but climbing really high trees with pretty weak limbs might make your brain unable to work if you were to fall.
Needless to say, I asked body-cast boy and Tweedle Dumb to come down.
Meanwhile, Dash was proving he hasn’t watched much T.V. with his uber-intelligent game play.
Then Navy became the sidewalk Picasso, and created this really colorful Darth Vader look alike.
(Have I ever mentioned that I have a love/hate relationship with sidewalk chalk. The filth and the fun are too much for me to choose between!)
Dash ended up where he always does — on his “Cooter”.
This kid is awesome on it.
I remember when we moved into this neighborhood, all of the neighbors would watch Scout rip on his scooter in amazement. He was just over one, and he would speed demon it around the cul-de-sac. And now Dash is getting the same reaction.
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Meanwhile Scout and Micah were utilizing rollerblades and grown-up trikes in the road.
All while I sat comfortably — 8-months pregnant in a lounge chair snapping pictures and yelling out reprimands and orders.
And on this special day where Micah turns 37, I got him……
an adult tricycle!
(AKA a drift bike.)
He may seem a bit old for such nonsense, but this guy spent hours on it doing spin outs and playing with the kids.
Happy Birthday Micah.
XO
I love my special dates I take with the kids. This day, Dash and I headed to orange to pick up Micah’s birthday present. The purchase was quick, so we luckily had time to have lunch together before picking up Navy at school. We were even luckier that one of my all-time favorites was nearby. So off to Zov’s we went for some deliciousness.
This boy always loves a plate of buttered noodles. But what he really was in love with was his very own lemonade! The saying in our family is “Denisons drink water” (or milk), so when they get that special treat of something else, it is pretty exciting! He guzzled, ate and talked to me the whole time. He is at the CUTEST age ever, and I hate that he will get bigger than this. He is sweet, he adores me, he is good, he is always happy, he is a good eater, and he charms me to death.
Let’s all lift our lemonade!
CHEERS.
To more dates with Dash.
Navy is my girl who is always organizing things, stacking things, collecting things, or hyper-focusing on things. One of her greatest talents is cleaning really well when she wants to, because she sets her mind to the task, and doesn’t stop until the job is done.
So when she saw her little brother stacking some witch nails, she definitely liked the idea.
But her competitive spirit came out when she proved to everyone in the room that “[her] stack is the biggest”!
It was true.
Hers was the biggest.
But not twice as big, and I explained to her that she was twice as old as Dash.
Then she explained to me that things like that don’t matter in stacking competitions.
Britni is in the hospital on bed rest until her twins decide to show up. We’ve tried to visit her a bunch so she doesn’t go crazy. This day, I took Navy with me after school for a quick visit. Lucky for Brit, Navy loves to give a good foot rub. And this day, she treated one swollen-footed pregnant lady. I think Britni enjoyed the rub, but I think she mostly enjoyed the sassy/charming girl who gave it.
Scout and Navy were in their first Primary Program together. My mom wasn’t in charge of it for the first time in years, and I’ll admit that it wasn’t the same. But that being said, Navy stood in the front row with the Sunbeams, and sang her little heart out. And Scout was on the second row with the CTR 6 class.
A few months ago, Scout was assigned a talk. When he gave it, he did such a great job, they asked if he would also give it in the Primary Program. Of course I was thrilled because he was one of only six speaking parts, and I think Scout was pretty excited but a bit nervous too. So the last week and a half, I have been practicing with him to get it all memorized to perfection.
This morning, my mom went over to the church early to practice with him at the pulpit. When I got there, my mom was frazzled because Scout wouldn’t give his part, and when he finally did, it was in barely a whisper. And being the pro she is, my mom can get anyone to perform their best. Hence, she was worried. So when Sacrament began, I quickly took Scout out and talked with him. I told him about a piano recital I had when I was little where I was really nervous. But I just did it, and then learned that you can still do something awesome through the nerves. And after my recital, I learned that as bad as the nerves felt, they didn’t outweigh how great accomplishment and overcoming nerves felt.
I was pretty confidant that he would nail it, but still was crossing my fingers.
So when the time came to give his part, he walked to the pulpit, pulled the mic down to him, and started to give his talk….
About a year ago, I was swinging on the swing, and I took my arm off to cover my mouth as I coughed, and I flew off the swing and fell funny on my leg. When I did, I broke my femur, and was in a body cast for ten long weeks! That’s almost a whole summer!
THis is where he held up a big picture of him in his body cast and showed it from side to side very slowly like we had practiced.)
I needed lots of help when I was in my cast. Someone had to help me get dressed, and feed me, carry me, sometimes I needed help getting itched, and I even needed help going to the bathroom!
One time while I was in my body cast, I got sick, and threw up all down the front of it. Thank goodness my mom was there to clean me all up. I am so glad that nobody left me alone while I was in my cast. Because what IF I was left alone? I couldn’t have done any of those things by myself. I could have tried, but it would have been a HUGE disaster! I probably STILL would smell like throw up!
A lot of us in this room are still kids. But no matter how old we are, we still need someone to depend on….and that’s our Heavenly Father! I KNOW that Heavenly Father won’t leave us alone. He gives us a lot of ways to hear Him. Like reading the scriptures, saying our prayers, going to church, and even listening to the prophet’s voice.
Not all of us will be in a body cast where we need lots of help. But ALL of us need the help of our Heavenly Father.
Just like me parents never left me alone, I KNOW that Heavenly Father won’t ever leave me alone.
In the name of Jesus Christ…Amen.
This boy nailed it. I had tears, Micah was like Mr. Waterworks, everyone was grinning ear to ear. He spoke clearly, with pizazz and was beyond poised. When he walked down, you could see the relief and accomplishment come over him. As soon as he sat, he turned to me, and I gave him the biggest I Love You sign I could.
When the program finished, Scout came over to me, and I hugged him and told him how proud of him I was. He nailed it, and now he knew that nerves were just stupid little things that get in the way. Throughout the rest of the day, Scout was flooded by people praising him and complimenting him. I think between Scout, Micah, my mom and me, half the ward told one of us about what a great job Scout did.
I was a very proud Mama this day.
And beyond thrilled that Bella was there, taking video on the sly.
Now we have this moment forever!
I like being pregnant. My indigestion could sometimes kill me, but other than that, I like it. But of all my pregnancies, this last one has given me a run for my money. For a girl who HATES naps, I have napped a lot. For a girl who HATES having others do her duties, I have happily accepted lots of help this time. And for a girl who HATES to send her kids off to figure themselves out, I have done a lot of shooing this pregnancy.
Thank goodness these two, who are really good at figuring out how to have a great time even if I am just laying around.
Thank goodness for board games, costumes, art supplies, but ESPECIALLY friends on and around the block.
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