Family

Two nights ago, we were brushing and flossing, cleaning and putting on pajamas, you know the little kid getting ready for bed drill.  It is exhausting and sometimes monotonous.  It is adorable and memorable.

I was cleaning up toys and sorting them into their correct bins.  In the back of my mind I can hear my husband telling the baby good job about something.  I turn just in time to see him (the almost 11 month old) standing and take his first 3 or 4 steps on his own.

We all started yelling and clapping.  What a success!  How awesome!  And how perfect we all got to see it!  I am so thankful I turned just in time to see it.  I love the firsts.  I love to see my little ones succeed. Even if it is just for five seconds and then they fall down.  They are trying.  And I hope they will get back up and try again.

And it doesn't matter that this is my fifth kid.  That I have seen them all take their first steps.  It isn't boring.  It is still wonderful.  It is still something to rejoice about and celebrate.  That is what family is.  You rejoice with each other.  You encourage each other.  You mourn with each other.  You hold each other.  Even if they are learning slow or if you wish you could do what they are doing.  You are happy for them.  You lift them and they lift you.

If we all try to be a better family, how much more happy this world would be.

(any typos and errors are due to two children climbing in and out of my lap, so I apologize for that.  I just figure they want their say.)

Fox Protection

When your kid gets home from school, do they actually tell you what happened while they were there?  My two older boys are the kind of boys that give answers like, "nothing," and "not much."  Until later, like bedtime when they keep coming and telling me everything in intricate detail because they want an excuse to stay up.

But this story isn't about them.

My third boy is a story teller.  He talks A LOT.  So when he has stuff to say, which is almost always, you better listen, because he also will repeat it until you respond.  To make things even more interesting, he also has the stinking cutest little voice and struggles with annonciating r's, th's, sh's, you know, so everything he says needs a translator.  It is adorable.

He got back from preschool today and had a paper gray circle folded in half and inside was a pipe cleaner twisted like a bracelet.  We asked him what it was for and he said it was a treasure hidden in a trap that was so strong nothing could break into it.  At least, we are pretty sure that is what he was telling us (me and my husband).

If only you could be here to hear our conversations.  He blue eyes get huge and his little hands flail and dance around like he is part Italian.  And the dimples when he smiles, seriously, just try to picture it.

"Matthew, but what kind of animal would want a pipe cleaner?"
M: "A fogs"
"Frogs?"
M: "NO! A FOGX"
"A fox?"
M: "Yeah"
"I didn't know fox liked to eat pipe cleaner."
M: "Yup, they do."
"Oh, interesting. But can't the fox use his teeth and break the trap open?"
M: "No, nuffin can get into it.  It is da stwongest fing in da wowd."
"Nothing?  Not even a knife can cut it open?"
M: "No, weally, nuffin.  Nuffin can do it."  (dramatic pause) "Nuffin.  Nuffin."

So there you go, if you want to keep something safe from a fox, put it in a folded piece of paper.  Because you know those fox, they will come steal all your pipe cleaner, so watch out.

Greatest Gift

I have heard that the best thing you can do for your children is to love your spouse.  And let me tell you, I sure love my boys' Daddy. I am super lucky, because he loves me too.  You know how I know?  My boys love me and treat me really well, because their daddy taught them how.

Today all the boys are home from school because of "inclement weather."  What does that even mean anyway?  I just know it means things close.  Anyways, we had a readathon today to keep the boys busy at least for a little while and then I could read in semi-peace, at least during nap time for the two younger ones.  The dream for a mom.  Peace.

Ok, ok, so I am reading this book called "The Christmas Train," and so far I am loving it.  So this character in the story is talking about how even good men don't think to keep their woman's feet warm.  And I think, well, I am super lucky, because Tyson almost always sits in a way to keep my feet warm.  No joke, right then, Josh comes over and asks "are your feet cold?" and grabs me a blanket and covers my feet.  It was the cutest thing.

And then he says, "Mom, so at school, a few weeks ago my teacher asked all of us what the best gift is that you ever got.  Most of the kids were talking about their toys and stuff but I said, 'my mom."

Yup, I pretty much cried and had it confirmed, these are the moments I do not want to forget.  I am so glad he looks past my cranky moments and all the times I make him do chores and run laps around the house and help take care of his little brothers.  Kids truly are amazing.  We need to learn to be more like them.  When you focus on moments like this, life is really good.

God Only Knows

Each of my children seem to be growing taller and more capable every time I blink my eyes.  It is a little terrifying and yet incredible to witness.  My demanding, often bossy little two year old will play outside by himself now and even stay inside the fence and keep the rules.  I didn't know if that would ever happen.  My adorable little six month old got onto his hands and knees yesterday and started rocking back and forth.  I suspect he will be crawling in the next few days.  He got shots today and didn't even cry.  He whimpered and then stopped.  I am pretty sure he is far tougher than I am already.  These boys will truly do amazing things in their little lifetimes.  I know that because they already have.

My four year old, Matthew, is a bundle of energy.  And by energy I mean like a typhoon ready to take you down.  Literally.  His goal is to see how many people he can tackle every day.  It is exhausting trying to keep his energy at a less than boiling temperature.  You are only safe from him when he is sleeping.  He really wanted to go to preschool this year.  A real preschool, like his big brother went to last year.  Even though it costs quite a bit of money, we were planning on it.  But something kept bugging me about it.  I felt like he shouldn't, he needed more time at home.  So we found a co-op group of moms that were doing a preschool together and so that is what we have been doing for little Matthew.  He is only gone a few hours a week and I am really grateful.  It is nice to have him be the big kid at home most of the time and to get a few more hours with him than I would have otherwise.

I was thinking about this today as I watched him color at the table.  He would have been at school during that time if he went to the "real" preschool.  But instead, I got to watch him dance around as he picked up crayons from around him, perch them by his lips as he studied the paper, and then stick his tongue out in concentration as he made a few marks on his picture.  Then the process was repeated.  I could tell he had a vision of what he wanted to create.  I could also tell he had some song or beat going on in his head as he moved around to the rhythm I couldn't hear.  And I was so thankful.  Maybe the Lord had lots of reasoning to keep Matthew home more.  I'm sure there were lots of little things, and maybe many more that I have yet to discover, if I ever will.  But if it was just so I could see this one moment and realize that Matthew has a passion for coloring that I hadn't noticed before and that he is growing up so much that his coloring actually looks like something and not just scribbles and shapes.  I needed that moment watching my little buddy.

Life changes people so quickly, especially our little people.  The Lord knows that.  He also knows just what we need, what we don't need, what we will want and how to give us that.  I am so thankful that He is a God that is involved in our lives.  He lets us make our own choices.  And He is ready to tell us how to make the right choices that will make us happy, if we will just listen.  I am so thankful for His presence in my life and for giving me the glimpses and moments that make me remember my purpose here.  Try to recognize something in your life today that only the Lord knew you would need...and be grateful for it.

Boys and Boogers

Boys can be very gross.  They toot (I hate the word fart for some reason), they burp, they pee anywhere and everywhere just because they can, they think every weird joke is insanely hilarious.  Like this one Josh told us the other day:

Why didn't the toilet paper cross the road?

Because it got stuck in a crack.

I know, I know, I almost shot water out my nose because I was trying to keep from laughing.  That didn't help, it only made me and all the boys laugh harder.  It is not easy trying to teach boys what is and isn't appropriate, when sometimes not very classy things, are downright hilarious.

Another thing boys have a fascination with is boogers.  I HATE boogers.  Like I have a psycho phobia of them.  I know I have boogers.  Everyone does.  But they can be taken care of discretely.  I do understand to some level how they are cool.  Especially when little babies get them and they almost completely block their nasal cavity they are so big.  It is kind of rewarding to finally unlodge it.  I guess I can in some way see that appeal.

But once it is out, throw it away, don't look at it, don't flick it, and do NOT eat it.

Well, you can imagine how unheeded that directive goes in my house.  But at least I am not the only one that suffers.  My sister has been coming over a lot lately.  I still can't quite understand why she wants to.  She comes here to sleep and relax of all places.  How she can and chooses to sleep in a war zone of toddlers, I will never understand.

Anyways, she was over today and Matthew climbs up next to her to snuggle.  She glances over at him and this is kind of the way things went down from there:
-Oh gross, Matthew, don't pick your nose.
Silence.
-Matthew, seriously, don't do that.  Why don't you go get a tissue?
-I don't need one.
-Oh no way, that is such a huge booger, go get a tissue---no, no, don't eat it!
Munching and smacking.
-That is disgusting.
About 30 seconds goes by.
-How are you still chewing it?
Matthew gives a charming dimpled smile only Matthew can give and then you hear a gulp.
-I always eat my boogers. They are so tasty.
-Well, that's gross.  Don't think about giving me kisses anytime soon.
Matthew seems completely undaunted and quite pleased with himself with a smirk and smacks his lips.  I just sat on the opposite couch trying not to think about it and enjoying the fact that he had another girl to torture for the moment.

I am really grateful the Lord gave me boys, but man, they sure can be disgustingly adorable.

Watch Out Pacifists

Boys are crazy, especially when they get with older boys (ahem, certain uncles) that are crazy too. My Matthew is for sure the craziest of them all, so when he gets together with Uncle Ammon, major rough housing ensues.
Matthew: "Let's have a pillow fight."
Ammon: "I can't, I'm a pacifist. "
Matthew: "That's ok, pacifists are easy to kill!"

Words of wisdom from a four year old. So take a stand. :)

I wrote Mom!

Raising a child is far from easy, but there really are moments where you think, yup, totally worth it.  I had one of those moments on Sunday.  A lot of my family and friends were sitting on couches in our basement with my little family, watching the LDS General Conference broadcast.  My husband and I have always taken notes of spiritual impressions we have received.  Over the years our boys have pulled out their journals to draw pictures and our oldest began taking notes this year too. It is really sweet and I am thankful that at least in one thing they follow my example and it is a good thing. Haha

So I look over at my little Matthew, who has stolen my journal so he can "write" things. Mostly it is practicing the letter m. Totally fine. Then all the sudden he says "Mama, look, I wrote mom! Just like in my lessons, I remember this word, mom, that's you!"

I cried.

The first word he wrote, that I know of, is mom.

Of course then he proceeded to fill the page with lots of mom's and moos and Matthew's (thanks to my awesome mom sitting on the other side of him teaching him how to write his name).  

I am so thankful that I got to learn from my amazing mom. That she taught me to read and write and was endlessly patient with me showing off those skills, even with permanent marker on her beautifully expensive dresser. She taught me to be a mom that cares about the important things. Thank heavens we have mothers. 

And I am so thankful I am Mom to five amazing little creatures.