Sigh....Moan....Sigh

I always say prayer individually with my kids before they go to bed. Jesse, my 3-year-old, doesn't like to say his prayers anymore. He used to love it! I guess he's too grown up now. I try to encourage him by starting it and then waiting for him to continue. I think he knows what I'm trying to do and he's already starting to rebel at the tender age of 3. Here was our prayer tonight:

Mom: "Dear Heavenly Father...."
Jesse: "thank you for this day. In the name of Jesus...." (very fast)
Mom: "THANK you for our blessings."
Jesse: sighhhhhh...."in the name of Jesus....." (very fast again)
Mom: "PLEASE bless Daddy in Utah."
Jesse: sighhhhh/moan....."in the name of Jesus Christ...." (very fast yet again)
Mom: (trying not to laugh) "PLEASE help us to sell our home soon."
Jesse: SIGHHHHH & head shaking..... "in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen" (very, very fast)
Mom: "Please bless Jesse James that he will sleep well tonight. In the...."
Jesse: SIGHHHHH & more head shaking.... "NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AMEN!!!" (very, very, very fast as if he's afraid I'll start all over again)

It was too cute....I hope he didn't see me laughing. I tried to hold it in until I left the room. I think I'm going to have to practice more with him soon. Maybe Heavenly Father has a sense of humor too.

Right Of Passage

Today was our Primary Presentation at church. AHHH! That precious time of year when the children in our ward stand up and give us all they've got: booger picking (& eating in some cases), hair pulling, burping, tripping, panty flashing, etc. As I sat there, a baby on one leg, and a toddler on the other, I tried to see past the people sitting in front of us to witness my firstborn in her very first Primary Presentation. The Joys of Motherhood, I thought. But as the first song started, I looked around and couldn't see Aurora anywhere. My son said, "Where's Aurora?" and I had to tell him that Aurora was up there SOMEWHERE and that we should just keep looking. Frantically I looked back and forth, leaning this way and that way. My kids probably thought their mom had lots her marbles, but I was NOT going to miss this right-of-passage. Little did I know that my daughter was sitting up there, arms crossed, refusing to sing and complaining that she wanted her Mommy. So much for a right-of-passage!! I'm glad I didn't know then (as I was debating if it would look silly to stand up and watch with both kids on my hips) that it was all the leader could do to keep her up there (Aurora's a strong girl). However, about half-way through the program I finally saw her stand up and start singing. Whew! That was a close one.

We had been practicing her part at home the past few weeks, and let me tell you - I don't know who wrote this presentation, but I don't think they were thinking about the actual AGE of the kids when they assigned parts. A 10-year old had a part that said, "Tithing helps pay for temples" while my kid (with 4 years of experience on this earth) had a part that said, "and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female;" ......HUH???? No wonder none of the Sunbeams had their parts memorized! But she did a great job anyhow!

Well, it was a fun day for one and all. Only 2 falls, a couple of heavy breathers and 2 class clowns. Not a bad way to pass a Sacrament Meeting. And my daughter's right-of-passage happened without any major catastrophes. I can't wait until next year!!!

Play Date

I took the kids to the park today for a play date with some other mother's in the ward. We just started up again when school started and we meet every Thursday. This was the first time I'd been able to get out to one. They always happen during Regan's morning nap, but she was up this morning so I thought, what the heck? Let's get ready and go.

I was the only mother there with THREE kids (all under the age of 4, I remind you!), and it was a nightmare running from slide to swing to monkey bars to stroller and then back all over again. I think I lost 10 pounds just from all the runnning. Who thought these play dates were fun? At one point I had all three of the kids in swings and as I started down the line (push, move to the right, push, move to the right, push, all the way back again) I felt like the human version of a robot. I looked around at all the other mothers, sitting and talking, and I felt like maybe play dates just don't work when you have more than 1 child with you. I guess I should've read the fine print before I packed everyone up. At least I got the exercise, right?

Visiting Nightmares

My Visiting Teachers know that when they come to my house, anything can happen. I should have trusted my first instinct and put the kids to bed first. But heck! My kids get such a kick at telling someone else all their stories, and what videos they like, and how yucky their diapers smell, and how they like "boogers", and how they fought today and got in trouble.....get the picture?

I should have known things were going to go downhill when my Visiting Teachers showed up and Jesse started yelling "BOO!" every 15 seconds. He then would wait for the expected laugh (Regan loves this game). When no giggling ensued, he proceeded to tell one of the VT's to yell "BOO" to the other, thus satisfying his need to perpetuate mayhem. After a stern warning, he then decided he was going to crawl all over their shoulders, legs, arms - pretty much everywhere. It was like WWF wrestling between two grandmothers and my 3-year old. I was hiding my face in shame, hoping nothing broke on any of the contestants.

After a couple of rounds, he decided to become a little charmer.... "I love your shoelaces!" he said lovingly to one of the sisters. SHOELACES? My boy needs some lessons! Although, it was kinda cute and she was flattered. So, I guess all's well that ends well. Welllllll - at least it ended. As to "well"? They had their noses (and mouths, and maybe tongues) plastered to the window until the minivan drove out of sight....

Reminder to Self: Wash windows before house showing on Saturday!

Crazy Fantasy

I have so many things to do within the course of the day that I don't usually get it all done. (Can I hear an "Amen!"?) Between the laundry, dishes, feeding the munchkins, and keeping the house in pristine order for showings I really shouldn't be doing the most crazy thing....competing in a fantasy NFL football league.

Can you believe it? I sit down during the week and pour over the player reviews, recommended lineups, switching players in and out......it's really a very complex and exhausting process. When game days are here, I'm glued to the computer yelling at the players on my team to get more catches, stop fumbling, kick those field goals, etc. "HOLD THEM, DEFENSE" can be heard down the street in my neighborhood. I don't even care what teams win as long as my players do well. Hey! I can now talk the talk and walk the walk. OK! So there's not really a walk involved unless you count the swagger I do when I beat my opponent. But no one is around to see it, so does it really count?

Anyway,....this has really taken all that extra time I thought I'd have with my husband out in Utah working. If there's not a man to keep you occupied right now, sign up for a fantasy sports league! All the testosterone - none of the dirty socks!

Wake Up Call

I used to get a wake up call from my 2 oldest kids every morning in the form of yelling in my ear, "Mommy, wake up!" (said in a singing voice). They are like little drill sargeants. I tell them, "It's too early..." Why do I even try? They reply, "But the sun's up!!! Come on Mommy!" and then they just generally whine until I get up.

This continued for weeks.....But HALLELUJAH!!!! Today they stomped into my room, hand-in-hand, to face the monster (that would be me in the morning). "Mommy, wake up!" (still with the singing voice - how do they learn that?) And I said, "Why don't you guys go to Aurora's room and watch a movie and play?" And do you know what happened? They AGREED!!! It's 8:45AM and they are still in that room playing and watching movies......Has someone kidnapped my kids and replaced them with obedient robots? This is the best morning EVER!!

Now if only I can convince my 10-month old to do the same, but she kinda has a thing for her bottle in the morning. Separate the two and I'm toast!

All Natural Fertilization

A few weeks ago our grass was completely brown. Then, we got a lot of rain all in one weekend. After it dried out a little I looked out the window and what did I see?

HUGE MUSHROOMS!

I could see probably 6 or so of these huge mushrooms. Of course, we are trying to sell our home and I don't think fungus in the yard screams "Buy Me!" so I had to figure out a way to get rid of them quickly. I tried kicking them and that just made me scream thinking they were going to explode green goop everywhere. (I think I saw one breathing). So after stomping around a little in my "hazmat" outfit I decided just to call a friend to come mow the grass. He's former Air Force so I don't think he screamed when the lawn mower sliced these mushrooms to bits.

Maybe I can use this as a special buyer incentive: "We use green methods in improving our grass. Landscaping includes all-natural fertilization" or some such nonsense. I'll have to think about this some more and pray the "alien mushrooms" don't reappear.