Panic Button

Our new home has a nice, fancy alarm system which we didn't hook up. It was just one of those things on my "To Do List" in the midst of December craziness of trying to get the house finished before we had to be out of our rental, relative visits, school events, Christmas, two daughters birthdays and moving that got a pretty low priority ranking.

Right after we moved in the carbon monoxide alarm in the basement went off. I called the company who had installed the alarm but since we had not yet contracted them for monitoring they were completely unhelpful. The guy on the phone said it was "probably a mistake." I told him I wasn't super comfortable going to bed with my kids while a colorless, odorless, tasteless, fatal gas could be filling the house. He told me if I was worried I should call the fire department - which I did. As soon as they saw the name of the alarm company (on the sticker on the control box) they groaned and told me that alarm company is terrible. I asked who I should go with instead and they said "Anyone but them." (They cleared out our carbon monoxide issue and left.)

I did some research, got some quotes and we had the alarms all hooked up and ready for monitoring. As the guy was leaving he handed me a small device that looks kind of like a garage door opener. "What's this?" I asked. He told me it was the "panic button" - something I could press even if I was far from the key pads, the alarm wasn't armed, etc and it would automatically set off all the alarms.
 I instantly thought what a dangerous thing that is to have in a house full of kids. I decided NOT to even tell the kids it existed but to squirrel it away where I would have access to it and they wouldn't ever even see it. That was Friday at 5pm.

On Sunday I was in the kitchen when suddenly the alarms started to go off and the loudspeaker repeatedly blared "INTRUDER. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, THE AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED."

Yep, Jacob.
We didn't even last 48 hours before he found it - and what else do you do when you find something with a button on it?

Tuesday night as I went to bed I told Rick "The alarm is on, remember to turn it off before you leave in the morning." 6am the next day the whole family woke to the alarm going off again. Brother!

Maybe we are not the right family to have an alarm system.

Kid Packers!

We had movers for both moves (I highly recommend it if you are planning on moving twice in 5 months) but we packed ourselves. The kids were really great in helping with the packing and packed most of their own rooms and almost all of the toys and DVD's & stuff from the playroom.

The drawers for our entertainment center finally came in last week & the guys came down and installed them. I'm excited to get the last few cardboard boxes out of here, so pulled out all the movies & video games and started sorting them into their permanent home.

It wasn't until I carried the box upstairs with VHS tapes to giveaway, that I noticed how the box was labelled.

Nice.

Of course, they mean "adult" as in "not Disney" but those movers sure might have wondered why we had such a huge box of them!

A Tender Moment with Jane

I just have a few rules for Sacrament meeting in church.

(1) No leaving (get your drink & go to the bathroom beforehand!)

(2) If you can read, you sing the hymns.

(3) Quietly coloring is allowed for kids under 12 but only AFTER the Sacrament has been passed.

On #3 - I figure that they can sit quietly and listen to the announcements and start of the meeting for the first 15 minutes or so. It's good practice for when they are older and will need to be reverent for the entire meeting.

I used to take the crayons & notebooks but now Rick is in Primary he has the bag of stuff & has been packing them. Today when we sat down he handed them out right at the start (after 7 years on the High Council in our old stake, sitting with us in Sacrament meeting is new to him!) I reminded the kids "Not until after the Sacrament has been passed." Of course, my strong willed little girl wanted to push the boundary just as much as she possibly could, so started flipping though her book & turning pages.

"Jane" I whispered "if you can't keep that quietly on your lap, I'll have to take it."

"No, I like looking at it." she told me and continued to flip through it. I reached over to take it from her and she held onto it and pulled away. I quietly & firmly told her I was taking it because she couldn't hold it still in her lap. I pulled it out of her hands and put it under my seat. I looked over at her and she had big tears rolling down her face.

Right then they were saying the Sacrament prayer so I pulled her into my lap and cuddled her. As the young men passed the bread I silently prayed to my Father in Heaven to help me with this child he has entrusted me with. She is so strong willed, so stubborn and determined. Some days I am just exhausted navigating her emotions and our battle of the wills. I explained that I worried for her teenage years and the challenges we may face then. I asked for help in meeting her needs and teaching her, for more patience, more energy and more than anything to know what her unique need are.
Oh how I love this girl and want to do what is best for her!

As I sat cradling her and pouring my heart out, asking my Father in Heaven how best to partner with Him in teaching her, the sweetest spirit came over me and the words "STEADFAST AND IMMOVABLE" came to my mind. What an epiphany! I felt comfort and encouragement. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized that this sweet and spunky little girl can be a powerful force for good in the world. She can be a righteous influence amongst her peers. That unwavering will can become steadfast and immovable and serve her well when the ills of the world swirl around her.

It was a sweet, tender moment.

I am so grateful that I know I have the Lord to turn to as I raise these spirits of His. For the access I have to Him through prayer and the comfort and insight it can give me as a mother.

I am going to make sure that this scripture is on her wall, to remind me of that sweet inspiration as I parent her and to let her know that it is special for her.

"Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable,
always abounding in good works."
Mosiah 5:15
 

 I had the lovely and talented Apryl Stott (who did Jane's birth announcement) create this for her to hang in her room and remind us of this experience.

 

I am also so truly grateful to my "Janie Baby" and her lively influence in our home.
We really would not be without her for anything!

Family Goal Book

Each year the first Sunday in January we would have a Family Home Evening lesson on goal setting and I would have the kids write down their goals for the year on sheets I had printed out. Then I would put them in a file in the filing cabinet, never to be looked at again. Seriously.

In January 2010 after our goal lesson, I was feeling frustrated. I think our family is awesome at working on the goals we set in the summer, and we're great if there's a specific project or goal we are working towards as a family, but we were doing a terrible job as parents teaching them about ongoing goal setting. All I felt we had taught them to do was set stereotypical "resolutions" the way the world at large does - only to be discarded and forgotten before February!

I thought about how best to keep track of the goals and work on them through the year. My amazing friend Laura had put together a "Conducting Book" for our Primary presidency (the children's organization at church) with monthly sections with the theme and scripture for the month, and places to write in who was giving the talk, etc. What if I made a similar book for our family goals? I thought about how we could maybe add a quote to work on memorizing each month, and a section for each person to record their progress. I decided to give it a shot .... then I promptly forgot about it.

I may not be super on top of things, but I am tenacious! I would remember the book from time to time and that summer I finally put it together. Since most of the year was gone - it was a thin book that year but I am so very glad I still did it because it got us in the habit of reviewing our goals. Also, it gave me the template for the following year and in 2011 I had the book all put together and ready to go by the 2nd week in January (I take it to Staples and have them put a plastic cover on the front and back and spiral bind it.).

We used it all of last year and it worked so well for us, I wanted to post about it and offer to share my template for anyone who would like it.

I start with giving each person in the family printed forms to write in goals in each of 4 areas - spiritual, physical, educational, and personal.

Then I type those up for reference pages at the front of the book.

After that I have sections divided by month. Each month has a card stock cover page with a quote we'd like to memorize. I try to find something to "go" with the month.

~ like love for February (the picture is not great, this card stock is really light pink.)

~ or Thankfulness for November

but most of them are just quotes I really like (I think months have "colors" this one is actually light yellow! Bad pictures, sorry.)

Then for each month I add "blanks" for each person with each of the 4 areas of growth, so we can write in progress. I like to teach my kids that the best way to accomplish a goal is by breaking it down into smaller more manageable parts. This section is perfect for listing smaller "parts" of the larger goal.

Then we write in progress. Last year Jane had listed "learn to ride a bike without training wheels" as one of her physical goals. For January - March we wrote in "defer until spring" for that one, because it was too cold, snowy and icy outside. However, because it was on the master goal list we picked it up when the weather was nice & she was riding by the end of summer.

One child had wanted to try a new sport and chose Lacrosse. It started in March and ran through the end of June. She loved it and decided to pursue it and continued with a fall lacrosse clinic - but each page from June - December we wrote in "completed" because she had finished the goal of trying a new sport. Some of her other goals were to read a set of books, get better at drawing, remember to wear her glasses (she only needs them for close up work.) She also set a goal to try new foods. We decided she should  aim for one new food per month, which we listed on the fill in sheets. I love that this gives us the opportunity to meet with them and discuss their goals and get insight into their lives. After we've recorded their goals, we ask how things are going at school and if there's anything that they would like to talk to us about.

(posted with permission - as long as I didn't put her name.)

We just did our goals for this year. We start with a brief lesson on why goals and personal growth are important, and then I give them examples of what might be some goals for each area - like explaining that a physical goal is something that helps your physical body, etc.

Then, I really let them write their own goals! How much am I going to love to look at this when he is an adult and remember that seven year old Jacob set goals to stop farting, run 1 mile and shoot ten baskets. Awesome!

 (posted with permission.)

 

Maybe this is way too involved  for someone who could just tack a piece of paper to the fridge or in their kids rooms and remember to work on it, but for me I need lists! I need a schedule of when we do things and accountability - or I just forget them. Rick and I meet with each of the kids individually each fast Sunday (the first Sunday of each month) to go over the past month progress and plan what they will do for the next month. For our family, it worked like a charm and we're definitely continuing this.

Words to Live By.

I was in the office making the bookplates for this years books (I'm a bit behind this year), while Rick and the kids made cookies in the kitchen.

I heard Emily say "Dad, Mom has 3 motto's" She then explained they are;

(1) Touch it once. (A tidying / clean-up phrase.)

(2) The house can never be too clean.

(3) You can always use more cheese.

I guess my job with her is done!

Google, You Tube and Jacob.

I have a pass code on my computer - well, I did. We're not sure what happened but Grandma came to stay while Rick and I were gone and it hasn't worked since (not that I'm blaming anyone Mum, but the evidence is pretty clear .....)

I keep meaning to call Apple and get it set up again and figure out why it still goes into "sleep mode" like the hot corner is still set up but with no pass code to bring it back. Darn my lack of technological ability!

Anyway, the biggest reason I have the pass code is so the kids can't use the computer unsupervised. It was a preemptive move for my younger 3 but I really need to get it set up again because Jacob's new found reading skills now mean he can get to Google and You Tube himself and I don't want him accidentally coming across something he shouldn't see (like when my nephew wanted to know if you can create your own Lego man and searched "naked Lego guy" or my friends daughter accidentally entered Web kittens, instead of Webkinz. Oh boy.)

So, it's on my to do list for this week but I will kind of miss coming downstairs in the morning (that boy gets up way earlier than anyone else around here) and seeing these in my search bar -

wat do turkeys sawnd lik

BeyBlade moovees

Pokemon moovees

sea worms

star wars

He said that the little cut-out from church that I have near my desk that says "I am a Primary Star" helps him because he copies the word star into the search bar and it drops down with Star Wars. I am slightly distressed that he doesn't know how to spell "sound" or "movies" but can easily come up with Pokemon and remember the second B in BeyBlade is capitalized!

Running

The cross country season has begun here and the meets (is that what you call them here - we always just called them races) are on Tuesday afternoons / evenings at the same time as Jacob & Jane have soccer practice.

I have to admit that I am wistful as they start and tend to look over longingly more than once. Last week I told the kids "I used to do that. Before I had you all, I was a runner but now I can't because of my knees." I've shared stories with them of my running days and they know that I really loved to run.

We left Jacob at practice and pulled out of the park to go get Emily from achievement days. The runners were all on the trail by the road out as we drove past.

I said "Jane, I would love it if you ran cross country one day."

She replied "I can't Mom, I'll be too busy taking care of animals." (She wants to be a vet.)

I told her "You don't have to wait to do it when you are an adult, you can run cross country when you are in high school." 

Then in a very condescending tone she said "Mom, I really don't think I'm going to have time to run ACROSS the country!"

I just love that spunky little girl!

Counties - Day One

Today was the first day of Counties for Emily. It's an historic occasion because the pool where they've always been held is being closed due to county budget cuts and this is the last year they'll be held here. We're pretty glad she got to swim here for the last time.


I arranged a babysitter for each day this week because any swim meet lasts forever and counties are no exception. They do a different stroke + relays each of the 4 days. Since Emily is competing in each stroke we'll be here Monday through Thursday. One of the parents shirts read -

"If I have but one day to live, take me to a swim meet because they last forever!"

 If I wasn't moving in 10 days the time spent at the meet would be less significant. There are people who had offered to take Emily to the meets for me but there's no way I could miss it. I love watching her swim and want to be there for support for her - the move will figure itself out.

So, we arrived a few minutes early because Emily gets SUPER worried if we are late or even close to being late. The kids all got checked in and warmed up. Emily was excited because her friends Nathan & Christian were coming to watch the meet. The boys are twins and they've been friends with Em since they were little. The past few years they've been on the same team but they moved at the end of last summer (same place we're moving to & the impetus for us to look there), so were not on the team this year.

After warm ups the weather started to look ominous. They decided to delay the meet. While we all sat around waiting I took a few minutes to call the kitchen designer & check that everything was going according to schedule on the cabinets - they take the longest to arrive, so need to be ordered first.

It started to pour with rain, so we went to the car to wait it out. I called the boys Mom and let them know it was delayed, she said she'd go get the oil changed in their car & come later. We waited and waited. I was wishing I had brought something more to do.

The rain stopped and we headed back to the pool and they started the first few races. Then there was thunder, so they held it again.

Finally they "called it" and decided the weather was not going to co-operate. It was 6:15pm and we'd been there for over 3 hours without swimming a single event. I called the boys again to see if they just wanted to meet us for dinner but they had grabbed food while waiting for their oil change. Emily was disappointed. They were leaving for vacation the next day, so wouldn't be able to attend any of the other meet days.

So, a frustrating non-meet. Not such a big deal, except if they decide to hold Mondays events on Friday - we are moving on Friday!

Summer Laundry

Can you tell where we spend most of our time?

Summer gives me a chance to catch up on laundry since we all wear swimsuits until 2pm each day.

Seriously, I really try to get the kids to wear clothing for 2 days in a row too - if we are only getting dressed at 2pm and they head to the tub at 6:30pm those clothes have only been worn for 4 1/2 hours. Provided you didn't spill dinner on them, wear them again tomorrow & save your mother from the mountain of laundry she is always battling!

Why I Buy Sidewalk Chalk

Dessert

We typically only have dessert on Sundays but every now & then we'll have it through the week if I find something delicious or am just in the mood for it.

We've had dessert twice this week. Last night we had watermelon & tonight we had fresh cherries. As you can imagine, this garnered some complaints from my two non-fruit eating girlies. They were begging for a substitute - ice cream, or something! I told them that was what was for dessert & if they didn't want to eat it they didn't have to.

I later found this note from Emily (typed & left open on my computer screen).

dessert

In Western culture, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common desserts include cakes, cookies, gelatin, pastries, ice cream, pie, and candies.

I got it from wickipedia

This is what dessert is….

I heart the internet

love you Mum,

Emy Kate.

(she still didn't get the ice cream)

Parenting Moments They Never Tell You About.

{iPhone Photo}

I guess if two of your kids are going to climb in your bed & then pee it is actually better that it happen at the same time.

 

Right?

 

Fortunately this happened before Rick & I had gone to bed because I've been woken up that way before and it is quite possibly the least pleasant way to wake up.

(I will say that one of those kids has been doing really well and has been dry all night since December ... it's just unfortunate that he had a relapse the night he climbed in my bed.)

Tonights Dishes

{iPhone photo}

Can you tell we've had some sick kids around here?

Kindergarten Valentine Party

I had wanted to leave on our ski trip on February 12th but Emily requested that we be here for Valentine's Day. My kids love Valentine's Day & the activities they do in class and trading Valentine's with each other. Last year we missed it. I sent in Emily's Valentine's early - but no one saved the one's she received. She was pretty bummed about it.

So this year we stayed for Valentine' s Day and left on the 15th. That meant I got to be here for Jacob's class party too. I am Jacob's class Mom this year and I have really loved being in his class a much as I can, getting to know the other students and the teachers and seeing him in that setting.

He really is a great little boy.

However, since I hadn't planned initially planned on being here we had asked another Mother to take over the craft for that day. She is a florist and had the kids do a little flower arranging project. She did a great job & really put a  lot of work into it.

The kids really liked it.

Since we stayed in town, I did still do the snack. We had fresh strawberries and I made them all heart shaped sugar cookies - a small white one and a big pink one. They were a hit.

The flower buckets were adorable. 

I was kind of sad we were heading out of town and had to leave ours!

Valentine's Dinner

I like to make Sunday dinners special. Rick doesn't eat with us through the week and Rebekah is often not home by dinner time on weekday evenings, so on the weekend I love having the whole family together for dinner. Saturday is usually more casual and so busy with all the kids sports that we often go out - so on Sundays I really like to have a nice sit down, whole family meal.

Since the day before Valentine's Day was a Sunday I decided to add a few extra touches to dinner. We had a Family Home Evening lesson in the afternoon - it's the one we traditionally have right before Valentine's Day about the Good Samaritan and loving our neighbors. We decorated heart shaped sugar cookies and then Rick took the kids to deliver them & while they were out I sprung into action!

Really, I only did a few extra things...
I had made little place cards and put them on the plates, I used goblets instead of glasses and we had sparkling pink lemonade. I lit candles in the middle of the table.

When the kids came home it was all set up. Emily walked into the dining room and I saw her notice the table .... it was delightful to watch her face as she saw the candles, drinks and place cards. First she looked a little puzzled and then a slow smile spread across her face as she recognized that something special was going on.

I didn't really do anything different for dinner. We usually have something nicer on Sundays anyway. We had Honey Baked Chicken (they all love that) green beans, and rice pilaf.

For dessert I did make Creme Brulee. I love Creme Brulee, it's my favorite dessert! I haven't made it in forever and I don't think the younger kids have ever had it before. They were fascinated with the blow torch and all really liked it.

Mmmmmmm!

I had leftover custard, so I made an extra in this small pyrex dish (and it became my "bonus" dessert!) Like I said - I LOVE Creme Brulee!!

I had cut out a bunch of card stock hearts and after dinner we all wrote out hearts to each other. We each took 5 hearts and made one for each other member of the family - writing something you loved about them, or a talent or quality you thought they had.

I loved seeing them put a lot of thought into what they would write about each other.

Rick helped Jane with some of hers, giving her some spelling tips!

This one had to be one of my favorites.

I love snuggling you to Janie!

We all had a great dinner and it was a good reminder to me that it doesn't require much to make a family memory. I am so lucky to have this family, I sure love you guys!

Emily in the kitchen

Emily doesn't like to eat very many things but she LOVES to cook. I was one computer click away from signing her up for cooking classes at Stone Barns (which I am sure would have been fantastic) when I reconsidered.

I can cook.

I would save myself the TIME of driving her there & back and the money if I just taught her at home. I pondered it for a moment - but would I? Would I be sure to stick to it & be consistent?

I decided I could!

So, Emily and I have been making a new recipe (of her choosing) each Saturday. So far, we've made chocolate marble fudge, brownies, and Nutella cookies. We should probably move onto something a little healthier!

Today she wanted to try chocolate molten lava cakes. One of her favorite desserts! The Sister missionaries were coming over for dinner, so it was a perfect excuse to make them (we usually only have dessert on Sundays).

We found this recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog.

• 4 pieces (squares) Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
• ½ cups Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 whole Egg Yolks
• 6 Tablespoons Flour
• 2 cups Real Whipping Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted.

Whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended.

Whisk in eggs and egg yolks.

Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

  

Honestly, this was SOOO easy. Emily did it with minimal supervision from me (I was whipping up white bean chicken chili and cornbread for dinner.) We didn't have any custard cups, so we made them in ramekins and left them that way. (We doubled it and made 8 ramekins.)

They were delicious & a huge hit.

When the Sisters arrived Jane said "Those are the missionaries???" I said they were.
"Missionaries are 'posed to be boys!"
Yes, we'll be having the Sister's back over for sure! (At least until my girlies know how awesome sister missionaries are.)

Another Snow Day

My plan was to ski with Jane one morning a week this winter - like I did the past two years with Jake. We have been super looking forward to it and planned to go on Friday mornings (she can really only last a couple of hours before she's tired.)

One Friday we had a snow day, another a 2 hr delay due to bad weather, one it was just way too freezing to take a 4yr old out .... it's ironic that we've had all this snow, but the weather has prevented us from making it up to ski.

This week I looked at the weather forecast & decided Thursday morning was it - we were due for more snow Wednesday afternoon / night, but it would be clear & a toasty 32 degrees on Thursday morning.

So, I recruited Bek to watch the other 2 in the event of a snow day or school opening delay and geared up for some time with Jane.

The morning was perfect - clear and not too cold with LOTS of fresh snow. It was a little more crowded that it usually would be on a weekday morning - thanks to all the school closings, but we had a great time.

 

It was only Jane's 4th day ever of skiing and she makes the most beautiful turns & is doing really well at stopping & slowing herself. I took out the video to get some of her doing such a great job, when she had this spectacular tumble! I instinctively turned off the camera when she fell to go get her, but I wish I'd kept it going because she went one more time head-over-heals & then stopped on her back laughing & saying "I hurt my leg." I hauled her up & off we went again. It's why I love skiing with kids - they take falling so well!

I pulled out the camera again to get some more (when she had a slow start) and then the battery died! Oh well, we'll have lots more opportunities to get more footage. Here's the little bit I got.

I love skiing, but I really love skiing with my kids. Sharing something with them that I love is so much fun and spending some one on one time is priceless.

Hot Chocolate

Jane just LOVES hot chocolate and as cold as it has been here, we've really been going though it.

Most days I end up giving up on things we needed to do out in the world at large, saying "Lets just go home now & have some hot chocolate."

Oh, and does this face ever say "Mom, enough with the pictures!" or what?

She's growing up way too fast!

Taking Jacob to School This Morning.

Man, is it ever cold here!

Snuggle Buddies

I am so glad that Jacob & Jane are so close. They really are great friends and it makes me so happy.

They love to "snuggle" at bedtime or while I am reading them their bedtime story. I hope they always stay this way & that Jake will always be "my boy" (as she used to call him) to Jane.