President Gordon B. Hinckley

I was more affected by our dear Prophet's death than I have been in the past. President Hinckley did so much to forward the work of the Lord across the whole earth. I have not heard from anyone who was not just saddened by his death. We owe him a great deal. I wanted to mention a couple of ways President Hinckley helped me personally. First, I suffered from depression a lot as a child and into my early adulthood. I was cured through the mercy of our Savior, but still some days I feel the heaviness return. Whenever I have felt that way I have just thought what would President HInckley do if he woke up and didn't want to face the day. Then I would just get to work because I knew that is what our prophet did. It helped me every time and my life has been better because of it. Second, President Hinckley brought the temple to us. While I was growing up my parents had to drive twelve hours and spend hundreds of dollars to attend the temple. Plus, they had to find some one to stay over night with their children. My parents could not go to the temple very often. Because of President Hinckley no one in America has to travel very far any more. That has meant a lot for my marriage and how I function as a parent. Regular temple attendance has helped me have the spirit more often. I am more forgiving and less quick to anger. Third, I carried a picture of President Hinckley in my wallet next to my credit card for years. It helped me remember to follow the prophet and not to gain unnecessary debt. Fourth, growing up I felt like the pioneers were boring or had nothing to do with me because they were not my ancestors. President Hinck;ey helped me to understand that as a member of the church the pioneer legacy too. I learned to love the pioneers and pioneer stories and they have helped me. Thank you for all that you have done, President Hinckley.

Why Me?

When I was 8 1/2 months pregnant Ruth said, "Mom, when you are pregnant you get really big." Them she patted my stomach and said, "And I don't mean just here." She slapped my thighs and said, "You get big here," then she pinched my back and said, "you get big here," and then Ruth spread her arms wide apart and said, "And your bottom is this big." Okay, so I know that I gain weight and excess fat when I am pregnant. Well, today Adam looked at me and said, "Mom you have a big bum and a big belly." Then he looked at me some more and said, "You do not have a baby in your tummy and more, huh mom?" AUGHHH!!!! So I haven't lost the weight as quickly as I would like too. But I didn't think a three year old would notice. Tonight while after I told John this new story Ruth and Kate and Johnny burst into laughter. Then Kate said, "I will tell you the truth Mom. You have a really big bottom. But your stomach is not really big. You just have a really Big Bottom." John, my husband, is always asking me why women obsess about our bodies. So now what I want to know is: Do I obsess about my body so my kids clue and and do too, or do I obsess about my body because my size is brought to my attention too often? It is hard to be happy and chunky. I guess I will quit on chocolate now instead of waiting to see if nursing the baby will strip off those extra pounds. The only problem is chocolate happen to be comforting in times like these.

I Am A Parrot

Ruth and Kate take really long baths. Sometimes they will be in the tub for more than an hour. Ruth and Kate needed a bath last night, but it had gotten pretty late. I decided to still have them take a bath, but to pop into the bathroom often and tell them to hurry up and get out. The girls got into the bathtub and immediately got into the play-in-the-tub mode. I popped my head in the bathroom door fairly early into their bath and said, "Hurry up, Ruth, Hurry up, Kate!" Then I left. About five minutes later and came into the bathroom and asked if they had washed yet. Ruth said she had, but that Kate had not. I said, "Hurry up, Kate. It is your night to stay up." (The four oldest kids take turns staying up with mom and dad one night a week. Last night was Kate's turn.) I left the bathroom and then heard, "Awk, Hurry up, Kate. Awk, Hurry up Kate, Awk, Hurry up, Kate." That was repeated again and again by Ruth. Then there was a whole lot of giggling followed by more parrot imitations. So, I must be a parrot. I have often thought that being a mother is the same as being a nag, but a I guess a parrot could be considered a pretty accurate imitation too.

Mmmm

Mmmm, warm brownies. If only I hadn't accidently sprinkled flour on top instead of powdered sugar. -John

Winning

Ruth is really good at the game cube Mario Kart. John and I were not able to beat her. We have always let the kids win out of the goodness of our hearts, but it was not until now that we found that we just could not win when we played Mario Kart against Ruth. There was no question about letting her win. We were the absolute losers!!!! So we decided that we should get in a little more practice. It is not nice to be in your thirties and to be legitimately beaten by a nine year old. So John and I started playing together at night on days that Ruth is not allowed to use the game cube (snicker, snicker). Now John can play as well as Ruth can and I am good competition for her. When we beat Ruth she is the frustrated one, and still. We don't feel obligated to let Ruth win either-- at least on Mario Kart.

Of Eggs and Drugs

Kate hates eggs. A few days ago Kate made a humorous poster that mocks the anti-drug poster they always have to make at school. It said Kids against eggs. Tell parents the truth about evil eggs.

She definitely has her father's sense of humor. Good Job Kate!!!! Unfortunately Johnny ripped up the poster because he and Ruth did not find a campaign against eggs very humorous. "Eggs are good," Johnny said. But in practice Johnny never eats more than one bite of eggs before he says that he is full.

Baby and Dinky

Rachel has had mixed feelings about her new sister, Esther. Rachel loves babies. She rocks and sings to her dolls, changes their diapers, strolls them around and just carries them everywhere. But A real live baby taking up her attention has been hard on little Rachel. She has thrown a lot of temper tantrums and sometimes has just bursted out in tears for no apparent reason since Esther came home. We have tried to be more patient with her, but Rachel has spent a lot more time in time out in the past ten days. Poor Little Raerae. We except she will forgive us in time.

Since before Esther came Rachel has been taking off her diapers and asking to use the toilet. Since Esther came Rachel has been taking off her diapers and telling us they are "Dinky" (Stinky). She has even been very insistent about it recently, so yesterday I took her to Target and let her pick out some underwear. (She chose Curious George). I put them on her when I got home, but I was so swamped with making dinner, cleaning up and nursing that I did not do much else with it. After I put Rachel to bed and was cleaning up the bathrooms I checked the potty chair and to my surprise she had used it. After church today Rachel asked me to take her diaper off. She then went potty again. About an hour later Rachel pooped on the floor. So we are two for three and she is very independent about the whole thing. I think I will take this slowly, but I bet Rachel will be potty trained in the next three months.

One more note of interest about Little Rachel. She keeps getting into the baby's diapers putting them on her dolls, taking them off and saying they are dinky and then disposing of them with real poopy diapers. It is adorable, but expensive. We have moved the diapers out of her reach. Now every time she sees Esther she points to her and says, "Dinky". Unfortunately, Rachel is almost always right.