Kiss It Better

Ivy tends to be more accident prone than my other children. When they trip and fall they have a 50/50 chance of missing whatever obstacles may cause them injury, but it seems as though Ivy will hit them every time. As a result she is always covered in small bumps and bruises. She currently has a black eye from colliding with Emery (who escaped the incident unscathed.) It always amazes me how thoroughly "kissing it better" will sooth the hurt of a child. I couldn't help but laugh after the following incident with Ivy.

She woke up after a few hours of sleep one night and wandered into the front room groggy and crying. I asked her what the matter was and she told me that she had bonked her head. I asked on what and she told me, "on the kitchen chair." I realized that she hadn't actually hit her head, but had only dreamed that she had. Given her track record I wasn't surprised to learn that this is the kind of nightmare that plagues her dreams. In attempt to comfort her I asked her to point to it and I would kiss it better. She gave me questioning look, then pointed at the kitchen chair.

Have Some Cake

For the kids birthdays I like to make them a special cake. Emery recently turned 2 so I made a Lady Bug Cake. Here are a few pictures of some of the cakes I made for the kids. When I find more pictures I will post them.

Giving Thanks

Each night when we go to bed we say a family prayer. (Usually 3 prayers because each of the girls have to say their own.) Lately Ivy has be getting creative with her prayers. Here are some of the things she is thankful for. Dance class, Mom's daughters, the park, dad's dirty wet hands, Grandma Sue's family, the chalk, the radio, her baby doll, and today she said to bless the prophet so he isn't lonely.

Bedtime Baby

Tonight after I put the kids to bed Emery began to yell from her crib "Baby, momma." (Translation: Mom I want a baby doll to sleep with.) I told her that she already had a small toy and couldn't have any more. She continued to ask for a while, and when she finally stopped I assumed she had given up. When I went to check on her later I discovered that she had not given up, but instead had one of her sisters help her. I had to take a picture. I believe I counted ten.

Rollie-Pollie Savior

We have tons of rollie-pollie bugs around our house. Every time we see one the girls scream with excitement and make me come look at them before they put them in the grass, which I have to say is more like torture than mercy. This happens several times a day and yet they continue to be amazed by them. Occasionally, they wander into the house and we have to take them outside so they don't die. A few days ago they spotted one of these stray rollie-pollies in the bathroom, and quickly beckoned me to come look. I immediately noticed that it was already dead, and I told them so, but my kids were not deterred. They gently picked it up and took it outside and put it in the grass. I am happy to report that they successfully saved the dead rollie-pollie.

Coy

Emery is very good at trying to manipulating you to get her way. One of the things she does is cast her eyes downward and tilt her chin then coyly glance up at you and smile. It is so cute it usually works. We just got these pictures and they are so Emery I had to post them.

Playing Church

Recently, I have caught my kids playing church together. It is so cute. Yesterday Sloane asked if I would like to play church with her. I readily agreed. Sloane wanted to be the primary teacher, so she stood in front of her chalk board easel and started with a prayer. Then she told me, "In church my teacher tells a story. Sometimes there are pictures, but she doesn't let us see when there aren't picture and only just words. I'll tell a story, but I don't have a picture. Okay?" Then she told me this story.

"Sometimes when there is a little boy who doesn't want to share his crayons with his sister, and that is not nice, and so he is suppose to share with his sister, and so he gives her the crayon, but just the color he doesn't like, and then he shares (is sharing). Then he takes it away, and that makes her sad, and she cries, and then he gives her a crayon, but the color he doesn't like and that makes her happy. Ya know. "

I told her that that was a great lesson on sharing, and that she is an awesome teacher. We had another prayer then lined up to go into the other room for singing time. Where we sang a few songs. It was great.

What I learned: sharing according to Sloane is, if you have to share just share the things you don't like.

Scare Tactics

About a week ago I took my kids to Lagoon with my family, and then we "Bounced Back" a few days later with my husband. The first day they went was a day for new experiences. Such as my 3 year old Ivy insisting that she was old enough for the Terror Ride, and that she wouldn't be scared. Her tears seemed to say other wise. We also convinced Sloane that she wouldn't be scared on the Sky Scraper (Essentially, a ski lift that goes from one end of the park to another.) She really enjoyed it and we had to ride it several more times. Since it was an open chair lift, and my kids are quite young, apparently we used scare tactics to keep them in line on the ride. When we went back with my husband a few days later she told him not to worry when it suddenly stops because, "Sometimes this ride stop whenever a little kids falls off." I can only imagine the gruesome scene she must have been playing out in her head.

Body Image

If you have kids you know how honest they can be. My kids are very willing to tell me that I have a big bum, stomach, feet, and once Sloane measured my legs and told me they were size, "999 big momma legs." So, hopefully you will feel better about your body image after you read the following story.

Last week Ivy saw me getting into the shower and this is exactly how our conversation went.
"Mom, you have long booboos. (That is her word for breasts.)
"Yes, I Know."
"You have long, long booboos.
"Yes. Thank you for that."
"Looong, looong, looong booboos."
"O.K. Ivy, I think I've got it."

So if you are feeling bad about what happened to you body after kids, just know your not alone.

Apparently

Apparently my 4 year old wants to grow up faster than she needs to. This means trying to grasp words that are a bit to mature for her. Like her newest word, apparently. She recently started using it quite often. Such as, "My baby brother (Cassius) really likes me. Apparently."

The other day we were at a restaurant and she had finished all of her root beer, so she asked for some of my water. She took a drink and said, "This water is yucky, and apparently I want more root beer." Hard to argue with that logic.

She is starting to get it though because a few days later I heard her tell her Uncle, "To get Cassius to giggle you can shake his legs, or his arms, but apparently your not suppose to shake his neck." Excellent advice.

Fairy Followers

The last 2 years we have gone to Lavender Days @ the Young Living Farm in Mona. The kids have a fun time because there are pony rides, a barrel swing, face painting, carriage rides, a giant slide, paddle boats, and a whole bunch of other things to do. But the highlight for my girls are the many fairies at the farm and the chance to have a tea party with them. They play games with the kids and talk to them and carry pixie dust around in a pouch to hand out to the kids so they can make a wish. My kids had to stop and talk to every fairy we passed. We were covered in glitter by the time we left. This year I brought along a neighbor (Liz) to help me with my kids. We had a great time and as we were getting ready to go I asked Liz to stand with the kids while I went to the bathroom. When I came back Liz was frantically searching for 2 of my girls who had disappeared. She told me they were just right here playing on the grass and then they were gone. I told here that I had experienced 1st hand how quickly they can disappear and not to worry that we would find them. We didn't and first and I got really scared, and was about to track down security when we spotted them. They had followed a passing fairy and were happily engaged in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, completely oblivious to the panic they had caused in me and poor Liz. Sometimes those kid leashes don't seem so bad after all.

hello

I am new to this so I hope you are not disappointed with my slow progress and computer illiteracy. I decided to start this blog because in today's world, especially the on-line world, we are constantly inundated with the negative aspects of life. This is even more apparent to me as I try to raise my kids and feel completely inadequate most of the time. I have found that there are little moments in my life that seem to help me realize that things aren't all bad. I started to write them down so I could read them latter when I needed a pick me up. I have decided to share these stories with anyone who cares to hear them. Some will be funny others maybe sweet, but I will always try to keep them positive and short. I will also try to update at least once a week. Most of the stories will involve my husband Stefan, our 3 daughters Sloane (4 yrs), Ivy (3), and Emery (1), and our son Cassius (pronounced cash-us)(4 months.) With all that said I will tell you one of my favorite stories that happened last fall.
Stefan's back is often hurting him, and he likes it when the kids walk on it for him. One day Sloane and Ivy were climbing on him and playing really rough and Stefan said, "I can't play right now girls because daddy's head really hurts. " Sloane gave him a concerned look and asked, "Do you want me to walk on it for you daddy?"
Some of you may have heard this story, some not. I gladly accept any feed back you have for me.