Preparing the Hotel CaLEEfornia

We are making final preparations for the arrival of our guests to the Hotel CaLEEfornia. Tomorrow night we'll pick Grandpa Billy and Grandma Rowene up from the airport. We all have great feelings of anticipation. It almost feels like Christmas!

Brynn is excited to play with Grandpa and to hear him talk like Donald Duck, and she is excited to see Grandma because she does fun things like taking her to Build-A-Bear.

Abby is excited to see Grandpa because he is funny and she sees Grandma alot, but she doesn't see Grandpa as much. She is excited to see Grandma because she does really fun things and Grandma gets really excited to see and talk to her.

On Sunday, I said to Joe, "I want my Mom. I know she is coming in two days, but I want her today." Well "today" is almost here! We are excited for our action packed week!

Camping with Dad

If there is any doubt that Joseph could be chosen for Father of the Year, let it be put to rest. Joseph took the kids on a campout last week and they all had a wonderful time. They left Friday night and ate army meals for dinner. The kids didn't think they were too great, but they survived.

Isaac and I stayed home, but after looking through pictures and hearing of their adventures, I think we really missed out! Next time......

Now, here is the part that amazed me. Joseph told me that we was going to take the kids on a little hike. Anyone who knows him, knows how tenacious he is, and how, shall we say, over-the-top, he can be. He took the kids on a 5 mile hike up to Lake Berryessa. I think that would exhaust an active adult, I think he might be half crazy to take 3 children on it. They were exhausted, but felt quite proud of their accomplishment. He said it was a neat experience to see their toughness and to help them accomplish something hard. I am very proud of all of them. The Monday after the hike, I asked them if they wanted to go on a little hike (more of a walk) to the duck pond at the UC Davis Arboretum. They all chimed in "NOOOO! Not another hike, we are still tired from the last one!"

I'm glad they had the chance to get out and experience the beauty in nature. I was grateful for the break. I thought of all the fun things I could do with just Isaac, but we ended up staying home and relaxing and going to bed early and then waking up to watch conference all day Saturday. It was simple and blissful. I've loved looking at the beautiful green hills. Spring in Northern California is so green and beautiful. Soon it will be golden, which is beautiful in it's own way, but we are enjoying this season!

After the hike they stopped by the river to soak their feet. It was a very well deserved soak!

Great job everyone! We are very impressed and very proud of you!

Today....

I feel like each "today" starts the night before as preparations are made and the groundwork is laid to make the transition into tomorrow smooth. Sometimes "today" become so full that I am too tired to take the time to do the preparation for tomorrow and the the transition into it isn't so smooth. In fact it's anything but smooth. Lately it feels like we haven't had very many smooth transitions and in the morning I seem to be scrambling to get it all together.

Today was another one of those rougher starts. Conference weekend was so wonderful and filled me with so many desires about things I want to do, and ideas that I want to incorporate into our family, but sometimes the thoughts never make it into action because life feels so full already. I want to be more effective, and yet sometimes I just feel like we are doing what we need to do to survive.

Today was a hard day for me. It wasn't all bad. Just parts of it. After a late night, without much groundwork laid, we started our "today." Julia came to help out while I went running and to take care of a few errands. I felt bad that my house wasn't spotless for her, that my sheets were still in the dryer and not on my bed, that my floor wasn't mopped yet, and that it took me ten mintues to find my keys. This picture doesn't quite match the vision of order I had in mind while listening to the talks during General Conference about the home being comparable to the temple in sacredness. I'm not talking about perfection, just things being orderly.

After lunch, I had to break up a cat fight between the girls about sharing clothes. Whenever my children fight, this phrase from The Book of Mormon comes to mind, "ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another." At times like this I feel like a failure because they aren't getting along. Abby feels bad that Brynn always gets new clothes and she gets Brynn's hand-me-downs. Since they are near the same size, I told them they could probably start sharing some things. This turned into a knock down drag out, I'm not kidding. I hate stupid fighting over stupid things. I know that I did it too, but seriously, I hate it. I told them to take the shirts off so I could cut them up, (I know, I need help when it comes to logical consequences, my brain is mush) because no shirt was worth ruining a relationship with a sister. (I didn't cut up the shirts, just hid them for now.) We all got in the car and went to the park...I won't go into detail about all the things/frustrations that went through my mind while there.....

When we got home from the park I had to pull Aaron from the car screaming because he wanted to stay in the car. The whole reason we left the park was because he had a stinky diaper and Abby had used the last of the wipes in the public restroom because it was out of toilet paper. He didn't want his diaper changed, so he was kicking and flipping all around (not good considering the circumstances). I held him by one leg, twisting along with him, to get the job done. I noticed in all of his screaming, the chocolate remaining on his teeth from the cookie he had eaten and decided that while his mouth was wide open, I might as well give his teeth a good scrub. He hated it of course. Abby asked if she could watch a movie, I consented since Brynn, who had already watched a movie earler, had decided to take a nap. Aaron thought he should get to pick the movie, so he went ballistic.... again. It was about 3:30 at this point so I tried to put him down for a nap. Scheduling a normal nap doesn't work right now with our schedule, it would have to be at different times every day. Naps now consist of any bit of shut-eye in the car or at any moment you can squeeze one in, and usually are disrupted by having to pick someone up from school, piano, dance, etc. By the way he was acting, I knew he needed a nap. He was being completley unreasonable. I held him while he fought and kicked and screamed. I went into my zone, where I have to become unemotional about it all and just hold him. He can't be talked to, it doesn't help to get mad, so I don't, I just hold him and zone out until he decides he doesn't want to fight it anymore and he falls asleep. He still hadn't yet settled down from having to get out of the car and I honestly believe he was to that point where if asked, he wouldn't be able to tell you what he was even throwing a fit about. After everything I had been through up until this point (even some of which I haven't even begun to describe here) I gave in, he was sweaty, I was sweaty, so I let him go nestle into his corner of the couch where he decided Abby's movie would have to do. Ahhh, a little peace....not so fast, while all this screaming was going on, Isaac was in his crib turning beet red from his own screaming. I couldn't hear it because of all the other screaming going on in the house. I picked him up, pleading for the help of heaven to help me with patience for my two year old. I consoled sweet Isaac and started counting down the time until Joseph would be home......

When Joseph arrived home, we had dinner, which started with Aaron screaming about not being able to eat a "tootie" (cookie) for dinner, and then had our FHE lesson about Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and His Cleaning of the Temple as part of our Christ-Centered Easter week. Abby and Brynn started the lesson being completely obnoxious, jumping all over and being direspectful, disobedient and silly. Aaron spent the first few minutes screaming about wanting to make himself some chocolate milk (starting to see am theme here with that kid). We sang, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" and as I sang the words, ".....Love one another as Jesus loves you, try to show kindness in all that you do, be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, for these are the things Jesus taught." I thought and silently prayed, please help me to be loving and patient and gentle because I am not feeling any of these things after a day like today. It worked, it's amazing the impact music can have on your spirit. I told the girls we were going to talk about something important and that I would wait until they were ready. I waited and waited and it took a looooonnnnngggg time, but we were finally able to talk about the Triumphal Entry and the kids eventually calmed down enough to ask some thoughtful questions and to talk about what happened. Afterward we made a "Love One Another" poster that we will hang up and add to throughout the week. The kids were really excited about this and it ended up being a fun part of our evening.

The best part of the day, was the letter I found next to the sink after everyone had been put to bed. It was folded in half and said on the outside cover,

Please...open the letter

Inside the letter read:

Dear family,
I have something to tell you. I want to learn how to be rightchois since I'm almost ready to be babtized. I want to be nice--be caring for others and expecally read from the scriptures to my family.

Sinceraly your doughter,
Brynn. Woodland California

Today was one of those days where I questioned my ability to carry-out the responsibilities of being a mother.....but I know I can't fail them. Sometimes my mind thinks in terms of the tabula rasa theory and I fear that I have ruined their blank slates! :) For some, mothering may come easy, but for me it is hard. I have to remind myself, "I can do hard things." And especially..... "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13
Tonight, during and after Family Home Evening, most of my thoughts have been centered around the enabling power of the Atonement. With these thoughts in my mind I take a deep breath and jump in to tomorrow!

Our Real Life "Funnies"

A couple of weeks ago we went to an Achievement Day Activity for our stake. I took Abby with us because it's hard for her that Brynn gets to do everything first. This was a battle that wasn't worth fighting, so we took her along. They had a modesty fashion show and the leader talked briefly about wearing mini-skirts and daisy dukes, she told the girls that no one wants to see the curve of their bum.

Fast-forward to this week. We are doing some spring organizing and cleaning or sorts and going through old clothes to donate to Deseret Industries. I've washed all the clothes and packed them up, only to have Abby dig through them, try half of them on, get them dirty, etc. These clothes are all 2-3 sizes too small for her. The other day she came to me with an itty-bitty skirt on. I had had it, I told her to take it off because I didn't want to wash it again. She said, "Wait mom! Wait! Just listen to me! I just have to ask you one thing." I was afraid she was going to try her sharp negotiating skills on me, and I said, "No, just take it off!" She turned around bent over a little, cupped her behind and said, "Mom, do you see the curve of my bum?" Said of course with her little lisp and Abby accent. How could I not laugh? She then bounced into the other room to take it off. I love her spunk!

While we were eating dinner the other night, Abby looked at the bottled peach on her plate and said, "Ooh, Dad, take that peach off of my plate, it's soft and squishy and it reminds me of a mouse, when I eat it I think I am eating a mouse!"

I love how Abby's mind works. Not only is she a great negotiator, she is great at making connections, solving problems, and figuring things out. Sometimes it gets her and us into trouble, and sometimes it helps her get to the bottom of something she is yearning to know. At preschool a few weeks ago she received an invitation in her cubby. She didn't know who it was from and her teachers asked her to wait to open it. She is very impulsive and I know it was probably killing her to not be able to open it. She told one of her teachers she would be right back. She went to the cubbies and checked every single classmate's cubby. She came running back to the teacher and said, "I know who the invitation is from...Kristin, because she didn't have an invitation in her cubby!" She was right! Her teachers were impressed with her deductive reasoning and the fact that she looked at things from the optimistic side, rather than from the pessimistic side of ....Kristin being the only one not receiving the invite. Pretty cool! We did a study with UC Davis Center for the mind and brain and they also commented on Abby's positive reaction to different scenarios presented with good and bad outcomes.

Parenting her is alot of fun, but it takes alot of thought. I think she was sent to me so that I won't experience mind atrophy. Somedays I want to retreat to my closet and cry or atleast eat and unhealthy amount of chocolate , but most days she reminds me that being carefree and curious are just what childhood memories are made of. I honestly think she has far more brain cells than I do, and I think she has outsmarted me since she was about 2 1/2 years old, but shhhhhh let's not tell her that. ;)