Luke...

• is a Sunbeam, now, at church.  He was just barely warming up to Nursery, so we were worried about the transition.  However, his teacher is incredibly great, and he seems to really like being with the bigger kids.  He did mention, however, that Sunbeam class should include a snack.

 

• started tennis lessons and LOVES them.  That first lesson was the first time he has willingly and smilingly left my side to go somewhere with a stranger.  
• loves Wii Sports, except for the boxing.  He accidentally punched himself in the eye, leaving quite a mark.
• has to "pause" everything when he has to go to the bathroom.  He wants our show, game, eating, talking, etc. to pause.  He has even been known to say, "Pause this laughing;  I have to go potty!"
• is sick and tired of Audrey messing up his stuff.  She turns off shows at the climactic moment, turns off Wii so that Mom has to set it up all over again, eats his crayons and play-dough, hits him when she's mad or bored, and wakes him up in the middle of the night with her screaming.  "Mom, I'm so upset, I just feel like beating Audrey up!"  I don't know where he got such an awful phrase!  Okay, I might have let something similar slip just moments before.  Of course I didn't really mean it; I just said I felt like it.  What kind of a terrible mother... What are we going to do with our beautiful, lovable, crazy, and spirited little Audrey?  Probably the same thing we did with Luke when he was that age: love her to pieces and try to limit the yelling.  And the phrases about wanting to beat her up.  
• is so cheerful when he wakes up.  Come to think of it, so is Audrey.  Even if I'm waking them up really early for some reason, they both find a way to smile.  They must have gotten this trait from Clayton.
• has pretty much determined that, no matter what I cook or how much bribing and cajoling I do, he only likes to eat breakfast foods, Wendy's or McDonald's, carrots, fruit, and anything including massive amounts of sugar.  He also occasionally asks us to order a pepperoni pizza with no cheese.  The only other person I know that doesn't like cheese is my brother, Steve.  Weird.
• was not impressed when we disconnected our cable.  "No more shows?!  Mom, I'm going to beat you up!"  Wow.  His mind is like a steel trap to anything I've said that I shouldn't have!
• is, in our minds, the most wonderful, smart, and interesting little guy we know.  We love you, Luke!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Something Audrey Likes To Do:

Something She Doesn't:

Shoveling That Is Hard Work:

Shoveling That Is Easy-Breezy:

A Mess That Mom Doesn't Like:

A Mess That Mom Loves:

A Big Belly That Is Cute:

A Big Belly That Is Not:

[I decided not to show a picture here :)]

Winterfest

What do you do when your car is buried in snow?  You go to Winterfest!  Our little city had a really fun ode-to-winter last weekend, and it snowed (heavily!) the entire day as Mother Nature's thanks for the party.  As we live less than half a block away from the festivities, we bundled up and headed on over.  We decorated "snowballs" (sugar cookies), roasted marshmallows, got our faces painted (okay, only I was brave enough), and watched ice-sculptors hard at work.  In fact, there are really neat ice sculptures all up and down the street.  The kids were really excited about the Moonwalks, until they got inside and couldn't stand up due to the slippery snow.  After a free concert from their favorite entertainer, the Merry Music Maker, and some free doughnuts and cider, we headed home to the shrill screaming of our little princess.  She just can't stand to have mittens on, and she can't stand to have them off, either.  With the thawed-out babe asleep in her cozy bed at home and Clay at his studies, Luke and I ventured out again to our neighborhood park's new refrigerated ice rink.  We both stunk it up.  I was kind of embarrassed that so many people were smiling and laughing at us, until I remembered I still had a bright yellow sun painted on my cheek!  Anyway, we had a good time and especially enjoyed the warming house complete with flat screen, fireplace, and complimentary hot chocolate waiting for us.  What do you do after a cold and wintery day?  You cozy up your tootsies in some nice, warm slippers (which recently arrived in the mail from your great-grandparents!), and then you say a prayer of thanks for a roof, a working furnace, and more hot-chocolate waiting on the stove.  

Thoughts From Today

Just Call Me a Mom

I'm grumpy and frazzled.

My senses are dazzled,

By the noises they make,

And the time that it takes,

To clean up what was messed,

In a minute or less.

When you visit, you'll know I'm a mom.

I'm tired and weary.

I try to be cheery,

But no makeup can hide-

Believe me, I've tried-

The darkness 'neath my eyes

Or the exhaustion inside.

When you see me, you'll sense I'm a mom.

I'm playful and sunny.

I wouldn't trade this for money:

The smiles and the giggles,

The dances and wiggles,

Seeing them grow,

And learn and know.

When you think of me, imagine a mom.

I'm happy and sad,

And sometimes feel bad,

That the moments don't linger.  

They fly from my fingers.

I'll put things off today,

And just sit awhile and play.

When you talk of me, just call me a mom.

Time to a Mom

To a mom,

The days are long.

But the months fly by,

And the years do too,

As if the clock were teasing you.

Ambitions

I've always shied away from New Year's "resolutions," as they seem so cliche.  However, that doesn't mean I have failed to make my goals, or whatever you want to call them, every year.  I always have the usuals:  lose 30 pounds, become more organized, etc., along with a few others.  Last year, for example, I decided it was time to get serious about reading scriptures everyday with the kids.  With the help of a very well done chart from the Friend magazine, we actually succeeded in reading almost every day.  (I loved this particular one, because it has reading blocks for younger kids that can easily be read at a pace of 5 verses a day.)  It's successes like these that push me forward to make new goals the next year.  

This year, along with all the others, I've decided that I have to somehow force myself to get up earlier.  It never fails that the evening I have decided, with much enthusiasm and determination I might add, to wake up the next morning at a particular time, is an evening followed by a terrible night.  I can't sleep, the kids can't sleep, etc., giving me the perfect excuse to sleep in.  Then, I wake up to the shouts of the kids and am behind the rest of the day, losing the battle I have against the television in order to get anything at all done for myself.  My feelings are put very well by Jerome K. Jerome in his short story, "On Being Idle":

If for some urgent reason I ought to be up particularly early in the morning, it's then, more than at any other time, that I love to lie an extra half hour in bed.  Aaahhh, how delicious it is to turn over and go to sleep again, just for five minutes.  Is there any human being, I wonder, who ever gets up willingly?  

If I can succeed at this goal, then it will greatly aid me in accomplishing the rest of them.  I feel that I'm going to have a tough time of it, but oh the joy in accomplishing a difficult task!  Also, now that I've told the world (all right, just my few faithful readers), I MUST succeed!