Motivation

Yesteray, all Todd wanted to do for school was history, so I read him four chapters from our Story of the World curriculum. One of the chapters mentioned the Parthenon and had a picture. He said, "I think that picture is in my Bible."

So he got his Bible out and looked. Sure enough, there is a picture of the Parthenon, near Mar's Hill, where Paul preached a sermon.

Then we had a nice discussion about the Bible and how it is in fact part of history. We talked about the things we have learned so far and how they fit into Biblical times. Todd was thrilled, to say the least, "This is so cool. I get to learn about history and Heavenly Father at the same time."

This is my motivation on days when school isn't going so well. For our family, right now, it's definitely worth it to have Todd at home. I'm not a home school fanatic who thinks all public schools should be shut down and all children should be at home. It definitely wouldn't work for everyone. But it is fun to have our Todd, the authentic one, with us more often. So much of our time last year was spent pep talking him in the morning before school, decompressing with him after school, and suffering through homework. After all that, there were occasional glimpses of our fun inquisitive son, but rarely.

So it's fun to have these conversations with him, to be there for his "ah-ha" moments. It's satisfying that we can talk about the why and the how of history from a religious perspective when it comes up. What is fairness? What is ethical? When we talked about Hammurabi's code, it was interesting to talk about laws from the world's perspective versus God's laws.

Another fun thing about this year is that I have become a student of history. I never had a great understanding of how everything was connected before, and I still have miles to go, but there are things that have clicked into place for me as I've enjoyed studying with Todd. Good stuff.

What a Great Weekend

I think it was an average of 65 degrees last weekend in Monterey, California. So nice! We had a great time.
Great food--shrimp enchiladas by Chef Glenn on mother's day-yummo!
Great company--what a fun way to spend mother's day with Kathy, Ryan's mom!
Great mother's day--we skipped town so Ryan had no meetings!
Great weather
Great sandy beaches
Great first pro baseball game for Todd with Grandpa, Dad, and Uncle Jeremy
Great weather
Great trip to the Exploratorium--did the little boys or the big boys enjoy it more?
Great city dinner with Uncle Jer and Aunt Liz
Great weather
Great pizza at Gianni's--our family favorite!
Great time playing with the dogs at the beach
Great weather

So much fun! Kathy is an expert picture avoider, I discovered again on this trip. Watch out, because I'll get you next time.

Oh, did I mention that the weather was great? (Can you tell it's starting to get hot in Vegas and I'm feeling it?)

Women's Conference 2009

I got back yesterday from my 72-hour vacation to Women's Conference at BYU. What a great few days. A great big thank you goes out to my three sweet boys for making it possible for me to go fill my cup. I love being a wife and mother, but occasionally it is nice to be a daughter, a student, a friend without all the associated obligations children and husbands bring.

I rode with a good friend, an acquaintance, and someone I had never met. After 12 hours in the car, I feel like they are all friends. We talked about funny things, silly things, hard things, and serious things. We only stopped once on the drive down. I used the bathroom all by myself without anyone else in the stall. It was great.

I stayed with my brother and his awesome family. It was also fun to hang out with their kids a bit without having to take care of my own kids. I got to snuggle with Little Miss Lizzie on the couch during a movie, and Kyle took enough time out of his busy schedule for a sweet hug of welcome--I felt honored.

I met my mom for the conference and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. We hiked all over BYU campus. I remembered that "cute" should not be a consideration when choosing shoes for campus walking.

The classes were fantastic, always a good reminder of what we're really here for and what things are most important in life.

A few (of the many) things I learned:

From Elder Perry:

We are so blessed to have the gospel. We have to share it.

Many people are ready to hear about the message of Jesus Christ but need me to share it.

From Sister Beck:

Parenting has to be intentional. We have to define where we're going and how we are going to get there.

It's OK to cook dinner for your husband and love doing it. Homemaking is a large part of our role as women.

Satan wants to attack the family, he has been doing so since the beginning of time, and he will continue to do so.

From President and Sister Samuelson:

The Book of Mormon is full of lessons about parenting.

From Sister Webb:

We all make a difference. When we walk into a room, we either add to and take away from that group of people.

From Brother Bednar:

This talk was an ah-ha moment for me, one I can't really explain because you kind of had to be there. He spoke about the atonement and what it means in our lives. If you want to hear more, you'll have to ask me about it sometime.

There were other speakers and great messages, but those were some of the highlights.

Thanks, boys, for my weekend. Thanks, mom, for the great company. I'm going again next year if anyone wants to come! (or meet me there).

Friendly Parenting Advice

I'm not one to go around freely dishing out advice, but here's a good one I think I can safely pass along: The minute you say your child "has never" or "doesn't" do something, that's when it will happen. A case in point.

I was picking up things and trying to find homes for items in our new house. Todd has an Alien Maker that involves playdough and gooey slimy stuff. I mentioned that I trusted both boys implicitly, but I wasn't always sure of the other kids that we regularly have at our house, because you just can't predict other people's kids. We were blissfully commenting about how our children really "don't get into stuff and make huge messes."

Bad choice.

Two days later, Ben was playing with his good buddy Lauren. They were super happy and content, so I was working away downstairs. The washing machine was running, so I couldn't hear much of what was going on. But this little phrase did creep through my contented working, "Lauren, come jump in the swimming pool."

In case you were wondering, we do not have an indoor swimming pool on the second floor of our new house. However, when I went upstairs to investigate, I discovered that Ben and Lauren were trying to create one by pouring cupfuls of water on the bathroom floor. By this point, there was a good half inch in some places.

I wish I could say I responded with a sweet laugh, but I'm afraid a bit of the Cheeto mommy overcame me for a few seconds. I threw a towel at Ben and yelled at him to clean it up. He was crying by this time (I'm sure because of my tone and posture). When he didn't respond, I set him on the towel and began using him as a little mop to clean up the floor. If you're picturing a cute, fun little moment, it wasn't.

I do have to say that it really only took about 30 seconds to pull myself in check and laugh a bit. Then we cleaned up the floor together, while Lauren observed from the sidelines (probably thinking she had never seen me yell). I think we caught it before any lasting harm happened. Next time I hope I can laught right off the bat. I'm a work in progress.

A new adventure

How excited is this brand new cub scout? Sooooo excited! When I picked him up from his first night, he said, "That was really, really, really, really fun. Even funner than I thought." And he thought it was going to be pretty darn fun! I'm so glad that he has a group of fun kids he gets to experience growing up with. And I'm glad that he has good excited cub scout leaders who are getting him excited to learn new things.

The Empire Birthday

We had so much family in town for Todd's actual birthday that we shared the festivities with family this year rather than having a "friend party" (though Todd is sure this is still up for debate in the week ahead). It was delightful to share games and laughter with family. I really missed having the big family gatherings when we lived so far from everyone. It was so much fun to have a big ole' party here at our home.

Todd chose the theme of Empires, since he loves all things history and the computer game Age of Empires. We had a chariot race, park bench jousting, castle rocket siege, and pinata bludgeoning. We are firm believers in non-violent party games. Hah. There were no blood injuries and no tears.

Aubrey taking a swipe at the pinata

Kyle jousts the cones

Todd uses his every-improving baseball skills to swing at the pinata

Filipe takes aim with the help of his dad

Ben leads off the chariot race with his trusty steed

The doorway was the actual target for the castle siege.

Lizzie felt perfectly confident that if she sat here, she was safe.


Grammy takes aim with the rocket. She's a feisty one.


The "senior" team, with super Lizzie and Aubs


I think these guys won, but I don't actually remember.

Uncle Scott really got into the chariot race

It's Great to be Eight!

Round 1 of catch-up blogging. Moving, company, baptism, easter, etc. has not made for great communication lately. So I picked the most important one to start up with again.

Todd was baptised last Saturday. He got to be baptised on the same day as his best buddy, Jared, which made it an extra special day. Jared is quick to point out, however, that he is almost exactly one month older than Todd. This detail is very important when you're eight. Todd was baptised by his dad and the bishop all at the same time, which was pretty special for him. I'm grateful that I have a husband who uses his Priesthood to bless the lives of his family.

We were also blessed to have a bunch of family here to share in this special ordinance. One set of great grandparents (you guys rock), both sets of grandparents, three sets of aunts and uncles, and two sets of cousins were there for the event. An especially cool attendee was Todd's great great grandmother, affectionately referred to as Grammy. She turned 98 9 days before Todd's eighth birthday. She is still spry and fun to be around. We're grateful to everyone who came and missed very much those who couldn't be with us.

Todd is an amazing eight year old. He was a blessing when he came to our family eight years ago and he is still a blessing today. He has a quick wit and a quirky sense of humor. He has a voracious appetite for all things involving ancient world history and loves to learn about wars, battles, and weapons. He has especially been fascinated to learn that the Book of Mormon is full of ancient history. He has finally come to realize (on good days) that food is to be enjoyed, not just endured. He is a great helper when he forgets that it isn't cool to help. He is a fun big brother who dearly loves his little brother and dearly loves to tease him as well. He has an excellent ear for music and a beautiful voice, though not the heart of a performer. He is creative and artistic and loves to make things. He is a joy to us and we are grateful that Heavenly Father has shared him with our family.

Holy cow! Can you believe I have an eight year old?