Father's Day

I love that Todd is such an amazing father!!! He loves to wrestle with the kids and they LOVE to wrestle with him. I love that he has so much fun spending time with the kids. On Saturday when I was off running with my friends he took the kids shopping and ended up with a big old blue pool for the back yard. Not something I would have ever approved but it puts a huge smile on my face that when I was gone all he wanted to do was play with the kids. I really wanted him to come up to see me at the end of my race and told him to just leave the kids with my parents because it would be so much easier and he said "nah I like spending time with the kids I'll bring them". I love that. He told me the other day he wished that he didn't have so much fun with the kids and I on the weekends because it makes it so hard to leave to go back to D.C. every Sunday night. What an amazing dad my kids have.

Seriously What Do I Do?

This picture says it all. Luke is doing whatever will make someone happy, Tayson is goofing off, Claire is being held and is grumpy and Sophie is no where to be found.

Each of my kids are so different and I struggle every day to do my best to help them develop and grow and know that they are loved. I want my home to be a safe haven for them. I never want them to worry about who they are or think for 1 second they aren't loved but at the same time I am trying to figure out how to teach them which requires discipline and rules and punishments.

Yesterday Tayson came home from school with 11 (yes 11) bad marks and not 1 good mark on his daily report. We have a rule for good and bad marks that good mean you can stay up longer and bad mean you go to bed earlier. Yesterday he should have gone to bed at 6:20....WHAT? I can't send my kid to bed without dinner and it was Monday so it was FHE which is also very important. Todd and I decided that since he was SO BAD and we think FHE is very important (especially since each week we are learning about and preparing for his baptism). So we had to change the rules slightly and take away friends for today and early bed tonight. Then this morning when we were eating breakfast the following conversation happened.

Todd: Tayson you need to be better at school today. You really are going to have to go to bed as soon as your homework is done and you've eaten dinner if you're bad again.
Tayson: I know I'll try
Todd: If you can't figure out how to be good I'm going to put you on Ritalin
Tayson: What's that?
Me: It's a drug
Todd: It's not drugs it's medicine and you don't like taking medicine do you?
Tayson: No. What does it do?
Me: It takes away your personality
Todd: No it doesn't it slows your brain down so you can behave and not distract others
Tayson: I don't want it I'll try to be good.

Then he said the prayer and it went something like this: "please help to get no minuses and lots of pluses and help my brain slow down on it's own".

It was so funny but also so sincere. I know he doesn't try to be bad in school and that he wants to do the right thing. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to help him. I never want him to feel bad about himself and have low self esteem but at the same time he simply can't act the way he does. I have no idea what to do or if we should just stay the course and eventually he will be able to control his behavior.

Last night Luke and I were in charge of the lesson at FHE and we were reading a few pages out of Tayson's baptism book on faith. I asked Luke to read the first paragraph assuming I would need to help him with most of the words. Nope. He read and read it well he knew "Heavenly Father" and "faith" and every other word except "prophet". He could figure out words so fast knowing the context of what we were talking about. I'm not trying to brag here but seriously I was so impressed. He was pretty much reading at the same level as Tayson. Crazy. After when we were alone (so that I didn't make Tayson feel bad) I told Luke how well he read and how proud I was of him and he said "I love reading mama". I told him I do too and he said "is that why you always lay in bed with a book?" ha ha ha. Yep. If I need a break I love to lay in bed with a good book. It makes me HAPPY! I hope that he has developed the same love for reading.

Claire....what can I say? The girl is all attitude. I told her last night at dinner she had to eat her whole dinner or no cookies for treat that night. She said "I don't care" and I think she meant it. Rather than fight with her I simply said "ok" and then she proceeded to eat her dinner so she could have treats. I'm pretty sure if I would have made a big deal about it she would have not eaten just to prove me wrong. Then later that night she came out of her room completely covered in black marker. She colored all over her arms and legs and got one small dot on her sheet. She was so upset that she couldn't go to be because of her sheets being dirty. She didn't care that her whole body was covered she just couldn't get into bed with that dot on the sheet. Please. I made her go to bed anyway and then spent a long time this morning scrubbing her arms and legs in the bath.

And what more can I say about Sophie other than she is such a silly girl. I love her spicy personality and how lovable and happy she is. I'm sure that she will give me a serious run for my money as she gets older though. She is my wild child with no cares in the world.

I am a pretty lucky gal to have my 4 beautiful and amazing kiddos. I hope that I can do my part in raising them. I'm not sure what kind of a joke it was to give me 4 totally different personalities - one of those things that is just so funny to someone else. Nothing that I learn from one kid passes on to the next. And I fear the next 17 years of all the things I still have to learn.

Something to make me smile

I was looking at the pictures on my phone and I saw this picture. Totally made me smile. This was a Saturday when Todd had stayed up late the night before so I decided to take all 4 kids to the grocery store with me. It was snowing outside so they all wanted to get bundled up in boots, coats, hats and gloves. I thought they were so cute I snapped a quick picture.

I also remember how bad shopping with all 4 of them was that day. I put the girls in one race car shopping cart and Luke in another race car cart that Tayson was pushing. We ran into things, the kids yelled a lot, I bought way more than I meant to because they kept things in the cart (especially Tayson). By the end of shopping I finally made Luke get out of the cart when I was checking out and go stand by the wall where he couldn't touch anyone. At that point the checker said "so what do you think works the best with kids? time outs? spanks?" I am pretty sure I just looked at him like "really you think I know....can you see my kids right now?" but I answered "well it really depends on the kid and the age."

I'm so glad that I can look back at this picture and smile and remember how funny my kiddos were that morning before we went shopping.

My Hubby

This morning Meggan (our nanny) sent me a text that she wasn't feeling well so I told her it was fine and to take a sick day. I was planning on calling into work and working from home but Todd said he would do it. Then at 4:45 pm I had someone drop by to tell me we needed to get something on the web tonight. So I called Todd to tell him I would be late and he told me that he had just made waffles for the kids for dinner. I finally got home at 7:20 pm and found all 4 kids bathed and in their PJ's watching a movie. The house was clean, the dishes done, the kids were clean and fed and happy. WOW!

It was so nice to come home from such a long day at work to such a great husband who had done it all and still had a smile on his face. Thanks Todd for being the BEST HUSBAND EVER!

Claire

Self-Portrait by Claire:

I'm at my wits end with this sweet little thing. She is so independent and moody it's killing me. I try to give her options and when I ask her which one she wants almost every time she says "nofing...I want nofing". She won't let me fix her hair (obviously) - the other day I walked in from work and the first thing she said to me was "don't you dare mama....don't you dare cut my hair....you just make me beautiful". I have never threatened her with a haircut, but I probably should.

Do I wait it out? Is it just her age+gender+personality? Will she really ever grow out of this phase? I honestly can't believe that someone so little and so cute could make me as mad as she does.

Good Parenting Moment

These seem to be few and far between so it needs to be documented.

Step 1: Give the kids a list of paid chores and let them do their part. We also gave them an end goal to keep working towards.



Step 2: Once money is earned teach them to count and how to pay tithing.



Step 3: Buy a turtle with your hard earned cash.

[insert picture here...it's coming I swear]

The TV and the Tongue

This little beauty has some serious attitude!

She got caught being naughty and touching the TV with her grubby little hands so she was told to stop by her dad. At this point she turned around and stuck her tongue out. So she was told that we DO NOT stick our tongue out at daddy and she was going to her room. By the time Todd got over to her she had stuck her little tongue out 2 more times. Then she started screaming and yelling in her room as if she had done nothing wrong. She was in there for about 15 minutes before she would apologize. Todd went back there several times and asked her if she was ready to say sorry and what did she do? Stuck her tongue out!!!

Such defiance.

I do not deserve a child like this....I was sweet!

Confessions

There are so many things I do that I shouldn't and now it's time to just confess them all...

I finally got so tired of Claire not sleeping through the night that her door knob is now switched around and we lock her in her room at night.

I got a speeding ticket a few days ago while driving the pre-school carpool. Sorry Leigh Anne! I haven't gotten a ticket in like 8 years I think the cops around here must target mom's in minivans who are too busy quoting movies with their kids or looking for binkies (while driving) that they don't have time to check their speed.

I am glad the boys are in school and I LOVE how quiet my house is when they AREN'T home. Is that bad?

Yesterday instead of fixing my kids dinner I took them to the mall food court to eat so I could buy a new body fat analyzing scale.

While at the mall Claire hit her head so hard she now has a HUGE goose egg. (see below)



Tonight at the RS fall harvest I took cucumbers and tomatoes from my mom's garden because I don't have a garden of my own.

The reason Sophie sleeps so good is because I put her on her tummy and she LOVES it and sleeps for 10-12 hours straight.

I bribe Tayson to read, do homework, not fight, eat his dinner, etc. with treats.

I spent half my day yesterday reading about Nie Nie instead of doing actual work like I was supposed to be doing now that maternity leave is officially over.

I left Sophie today to go into work for a few hours. And since I have been too lazy to give her one I left Chelsea to see if she would take a bottle. Thank goodness she's a great baby she took it no problem.

I wear a girdle out in public sometimes because I'm too prideful and don't like my flabby tummy. Shouldn't I just embrace this "motherly" body I have?

I really hate flossing. I am a big brusher and I use Listerine daily...but I am so bad at flossing (unless I have just eaten corn on the cob or an apple).

I turn movies on for my kids in the minivan everywhere we go (even if we are driving the half mile to my parents house).

I feel better now that I have gotten all of this out in the open.

Reading Help!!!

Help! Help! Help! Every time I sit down to read with Tayson or have him read to me we end up with him in timeout and me completely pissed off. I have tried reading right before bed as a privilege of getting to stay up late, I have tried reading as soon as he gets home from school before he can go out and play. What can I do to get my kid to love, like or even endure reading? I know he knows the words but he refuses to read them. I am beyond frustrated and we are just starting the school year again and need to read and do homework every day.

Are there good books to buy that 6 year old boys will want to read?

Is there a good way to encourage him without just telling him all the words?

Are there reading games that work?

Is there a book I should read to learn how to teach him better as a parent?

Overheard

Last night for Tayson's birthday we went out to eat as a family. As our family grows this is no small task. Sophie needed to eat so I ran and did a speed feed right before dinner which means she wasn't screaming....but she wasn't content so she just kept squirming. Claire and Luke were absolutely crazy and kept standing up in the booth and poking each other. The kids ate great and to be honest it wasn't even close to our loudest or worst dining out experience with the kids. When it was time to leave Todd picked up Sophie in the car seat, and was herding out Tayson, Luke and Claire while I finished paying the bill. Right after he passed the table directly behind us I heard a dad saying to his 2 college age sons "see what you have to look forward to" to which both boys replied "I'm staying single for life".

Rather than turn around and tell them our kids are the best thing in the world I actually laughed out loud (to myself of course). Those boys don't know what they're missing!

Equality in Parenting

This morning was a HUGE morning for us. Luke woke up dry so I hurried and put him on the potty - we sat there for a full 10 minutes and nothing. So I let him get off for a few minutes and had to go in the other room for a few minutes so he wouldn't see how upset and disappointed I was in myself for not being able to potty train him. Then I stuck him back on the potty with a full glass of his favorite drink (strawberry milk) and told him he had to drink the whole thing before he could get off. He wouldn't even sip it (I'm sure because his bladder was way too full) finally he let go and went and trust me he went and went and went. I've never seen a kid with such a big bladder! Then I got Claire up and she sat on the potty and went too. What a great morning. The funny part however is the reactions to their successes. They both got "special" stickers on their potty charts and I told them how proud I was of them. Then Luke got to pick any toy he wanted and I just kept telling him how proud I was of him. My mom was over since she is watching the kids this week and just laughed at how much more praise Luke was getting than Claire and she said "isn't it hard to have equality in parenting?" It made me laugh and think about the truth of it and how many times when I was little I would tell my parents "that's not fair...so-in-so got to do this and I don't." We live and we learn.