Adam's Birthday List

This is Adam's birthday wish list with some of his explanations. It is pretty funny.

a real kid bow and arrow with fake arrows
gum
rocky road ice cream
soda pop (one without coffee in it, some have coffee in them so we can't drink them)
banana splits
a real leapord with a glass cage
a real sword (but he wont use it when he's little only when he's a parent because those are dangerous)
silverware because we are running out
some jewels
a bakugan, those are cheap

Pumpkin Carving

 We carved our pumpkins for Family Home evening last night. It was a  lot of fun. Everyone was nice. Everyone took turns. Everyone helped scoop out their seeds without complaining. Everyone helped clean up. What a perfectly fun family night!

Have you seen the ghost of Ruth...oooo, oooo, oooo

Anya Stories

Anya always puts the word 'can't' in for don't, so we get some funny things from her. For example, the other day when I saw Anya drawing on her blocks, I said, "Anya, draw on paper!"  Anya responded, "I can't like paper." At dinner I told Anya to drink her milk and she said, "I can't want it."

Last Thursday, while we were walking Adam to kindergarten, Anya noticed the leaves being blown off the trees. Anya looked up at me, and it a very sad voice said, "Mom, they are falling off. Mom, they are dying."

John got some really good chocolate for his birthday that he has been sharing with everyone. Most of the kids like the milk chocolate the best. John asked Anya if she wanted to taste the milk chocolate or the dark chocolate and Anya said, "dark chocolate!" Surprised, John gave her a taste of both and asked which one she wanted more of. Anya promptly responded, "dark chocolate."

Anya is my 2 year old who refuses to potty train, however, she does not wet the bed anymore. Anya wakes up dry every morning and usually will say that she has to go potty. But during the day, Anya refuses to go to the bathroom in anything but a diaper.

New Camera

I bought John a camera for his birthday, since we no longer have a working camera at all. Financially things have been very tight over the last few months, so I could not buy the $500 to $1,000 camera that we both wanted. Instead, I bought a $200 Nikon Coolpix camera. It seems to have a decent lense and also some things we like. Here are a few sample pictures. John has been experimenting with it, and I think he has decided that he likes the camera and is going to keep it. It is definitely a better camera than the 2 cameras we have had.

Good Persective Change

Often I feel very busy and overwhelmed with the tasks of taking care of all that goes with raising my children and keeping home. My evenings are very busy, with cooking dinner, cleaning the house, bathing the kids, reading and getting everyone to bed. Over the last six months I have often found myself wishing that John would do more. Then about a month a ago John got sick. He was not doing anything, nor would I have asked to him too. That is when I was blessed to have a change in my perspective. John was sick and therefore I was doing everything that needed to be done. I helped with all of the homework, did all the cooking, organized and completed all of the chores, did all of the reading, and all of the bedtime routines. By the time I had everyone in bed and the house cleaned, I was absolutely exhausted! I really had no idea how much John actually does to help out at night. I guess I thought just because I am very busy, I was doing the majority of the work. It's good to know, just how much my dear husband helps out. I really appreciate all he does, especially helping Ruth with her math and tucking Anya and Rachel in at night.

John's Comments on My Blog: President Monson's Relief Society Talk

I thought John's comments on my blog post: President Monson's Relief Society Talk were worth noting. He said, that I should not put aside the decisions we have made for our family as not being good for everyone. He said, we have based a lot of our decisions on "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"

The part he is referring to says:
"Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed."

John said that we need to be compassionate and tolerant of all people, we need to take into account other people's circumstances, but without judging, being prideful or offending, we need to stand up for what is taught in our church as the truth or what is best for the majority.

I still have a lot to work on, but it is nice to have such a good husband.

Oh The Things They Say and Do

1.On Kate's first day of fall break a lot of my younger children were crying a lot more than usual while I was doing the morning chores. When I stopped working the first time to see who was crying and why, it was Rachel and Kate was holding her. After some prodding, Kate let go of Rachel. Later, it was Adam and Kate was holding him. Again, after some prodding, I got Kate to let Adam go. Another time, it was Johnny, and Kate was holding him. I said to Kate, "Why do you keep hurting your brother and sisters?" Kate simply responded, "I am not hurting them. They are just wimps!"

2.After breakfast, Anya said to me, "I am sick. I need to watch a movie." (Anya is not sick, she just wants to watch a movie.)

3.John was sitting on the floor working on his laptop and Joseph was hanging around him, trying to pound on the keyboard. After about a half hour of John blocking Joseph I asked, "Joseph, are you a stinker?" Joseph said, "Dah," (meaning yeah) stood up, grabbed the box of wet wipes and brought them over to me.

I love my funny kids!!!

Kate did get sent to bed until she decided to quit hurting everyone. She decided that rather quickly too.

Anya colored instead of watching a movie.

And asking Joseph if he was a stinker diverted his attention away from the laptop.