Indianapolis Temple

The Indianapolis Temple was dedicated the last week of August!! We had so much fun doing the primary temple countdown. Each day (that we remembered, haha) the kids ripped a link off of the countdown chain and completed the activity. There were also family home evening lessons for the 4 Mondays prior to the open house. For one FHE lesson, we read about King Benjamin addressing his people, and how they faced their tents toward the temple. We discuss how our family can make the temple more of a focus in our home. We decided that we need to place pics of the temple in our home, and in each of our kids' bedrooms. We also talked about visiting the temple as a family, and Thad and I going to do temple work on a regular basis. We loved going to the open house with the kids. We met Dru there and went through the open house together. Ana later said she felt like Heavenly Father was there with her. When I asked Benji in the Celestial room if he felt the Spirit, he said, "Ummmm, not really." Haha. Later he said he did though, funny boy. 

 

Benji's replica of the Indy Temple

Ana's temple. For FHE we made tents for each member of the family, and faced them toward the temple:) Such a fun lesson, and the kids loved it!

Going to the temple is always a bit crazy with a nursing baby, but we found a way to work around it. A couple Fridays ago, Thad and I scheduled back-to-back initiatory sessions. That way we could take the kids with us, and take turns walking around the temple with the kids while the other did initiatories. It worked out ok until Thad took the van keys with him when we switched, and I was left with two kids who needed diaper changes and no way to get the diapers or wipes. And nowhere to nurse Blakely. Luckily someone was able to let me into the stake center so we could all get drinks and use the restroom. Thad was out shortly, and we got to see the sun set over the temple and the temple light up against the night sky. It was beautiful. Benji has drawn a couple pictures of the temple all lit up since then. It must have made quite an impression on him.

Biting

Jane's in to biting right now. She hasn't bitten anyone in nursery yet .... that I know of. But she bites at home all the time! She's bitten Blakely several times, and it leaves nasty red welts. She bites Benji a lot, too. When she bites Benji I think it's her way of making herself heard, because she's the youngest and has a hard time being noticed about the other kids sometimes. And I'm sure she gets tired of being pushed around and told what to do. So I get that. But why she bites Blakely, other than to get attention, I have no idea. Maybe that's it, to get attention. Whatever the case, I wanted to get through to her that it's NOT ok to bite Blakely (well not Benji either, but especially not Blakely). So one day a couple weeks ago I told her if she bites again, I'm going to bite her. I've heard of this method before and thought I'd give it a try. She must not have believed me, because she later bit Blakely on the hand. So I grabbed her hand and bit down not too hard, but hard enough to send her a stern message. She, of course, looked at me with a horrible look of confusion and betrayal, and cried pretty hard. I actually put her in time out, too, after I'd bitten her. And as I was doing it, I felt horrible! Why did I just do that? Is that considered child abuse? Hahaha ........ but is it?

So here we are, two weeks later, and every time Jane bites, I bite her. But she's still biting. So obviously my point hasn't gotten across. That makes it more weird every time I have to bite her because it's not preventing her from biting. So I guess I need to try a new method?

The Bottom Book

 A few weeks ago Ana made a book. A bottom book, to be precise. Where in the world she ever got the notion to write a book about her behind, I'll never know. It's totally inappropriate in so many ways. But I'll tell you what, when I finally picked it up one day out of curiosity and read it (before I'd only heard her telling Benji about it and not given it another thought), I laughed quite a bit. And just so you're not confused, the circles with lines down the middle are, well, bottoms. So without further ado:

My Bottom

"I love my bottom"

"It is my favorite color peach"

"It is soft and perfect for spanking"

"I love my bottom so much bottom is my favorite"

"But sometimes I have to use it" (yes that's her on a toilet)

As I read the book on the couch Benji asked me to read it out loud to him too. So I did. When I was done, he thought and then asked, "Is Ana's next book going to be called, "I love my wee wee?" I said no.



Preschool

 

Benjamin started preschool this month! And he loves it! (He wanted to wear his hat, he's discovered that he really loves hats, at least for this week:) There are only 4 kids in his class, and all 4 go to Primary with him on Sunday so it's a pretty intimate class. On the car ride home that first day, he talked and talked about the 2 funny books that they read about bears, and about the bear activities that they did. I think he's going to have a really good experience this year. I just hope he: 1) gets more comfortable playing with, and talking to, other kids (besides Ana) and 2) learns what he needs to, to be ready for Kindergarten next year. He's not as far along as Ana was at his age. Maybe because I had more time alone with her? He's not behind by any means, he's a smart kid, but Ana went into preschool practically ready to read, and he still gets confused naming letters and numbers. So hopefully he learns as much academically as he does socially this year.

So, funny story from Walmart today. I dispise going to Walmart, first of all. Let's just get that out there. The kids are always crazy, and they always, always want to ride in the huge, ginormous blue cart with the plastic seats with buckles in addition to the normal cart. Luckily that one wasn't available today. And somehow time seems to fast forward when I'm inside, so that 30 minute trips turn into an hour, and 10 minute trips turn into 30. So today was supposed to be a quick trip, in and out. Only 2 items to get. And as always, not so. Because Benji of course had to go to the bathroom. Ugh, taking kids to the bathroom in a public restroom is such a pain! It takes so long to help them in, wait for them to go, help them wash hands, and whenever Ana or Benji has to go, Jane has to go, so that's an extra 10 minutes of her wanting to do everything herself, and sitting on the potty forever trying to let out one small toot. Anyway this time the women's bathroom was closed, so I sent him into the men's, with Jane in tow. After about 10 minutes of waiting outside the door on a bench, realized that Benji had been in the bathroom for a long time. And why was Jane being so quiet? walked up to the bathroom door and called Benjamin's name. He yelled something back at me that I couldn't understand, and after a few tries, I heard, "I buttled (buckled) myself!" So I'm thinking, what the heck, what buckle is he talking about? There's no buckles in a bathroom? So after some confusing minutes of yelling quietly back and forth through the door, a Wal-Mart employee opened the door to exit the men's bathroom and told me I could go in and help my son while he stood at the door to stop anyone from coming in. I gratefully thanked him and hurried in. And there's Benjamin, at the back of the restroom in the handicap stall, buckled into one of those toddler seats that bolted to the wall and has a drop down seat that they sit on. He looked at me sheepishly with that grin that says he's not sorry for what he did but he feels a little silly. Jane was just standing with him thinking who knows what. After laughing in spite of myself, I unbuckled him and hustled the kids out of the restroom. As we passed the employee standing guard at the door, I noticed that Jane has no shoes on. Of course. So I sent her back in, ("hurry, Jane! Run, grab your shoes and lets go!")

It wasn't until about 2 hours later when Jane told me she pooped and then she pulled her shorts down to reveal no diaper, and a big fat piece of poop sitting in her shorts, that I realized that when we were leaving the men's restroom in Walmart, and Benjamin told me that Jane had taken her diaper off to go potty, that she had actually taken it off and left it in the stall. It was probably on the floor and I didn't even notice it. Nice. Sorry Walmart Staff.

Once again, I wonder if they have a wall of pictures of people to beware of when they walk in the store. If they do, I'm sure my picture is on it.

 

Forgetful

I'm losing my mind. This morning after sending Ana off to school I retired back to my bed, as I have for the last week since I've been sick. I just can't get up to face the day when I'm tired from a night of no sleep because of Jane and being sick and stuffy.

So anyway this morning was a little extreme. I fed Blakely then went back to bed around 7:30 a.m. Jane and Benji weren't awake yet, so I had to take advantage of the few rare moments of silence and peace. They woke up shortly after I fell asleep, and they came into my room a few times for this and that. I was so out of it that I told them to get bananas and bread for breakfast, and then I zonked out until 10 a.m.!! I woke up, checked my phone, then replied to a text from Thad asking how I was doing. Then we called me immediately following my text and said "Is Benji going to preschool today?" Crap!! I forgot about preschool! It started at 9:30. So I burst into the play room where Benji and Jane (still in their jammies and soggy diapers from last night),  were barking like dogs and stuffing their mouths with leftover candy from Ana's birthday party.

"Benji, I forgot about preschool, we've got to go!" I said urgently. He laughed and ran straight to his room, bless his heart. He got dressed and brushed teeth, and I ran into my room and threw on some jeans and a t-shirt. I grabbed sleeping Blakely and stuffed her (gently) into her car seat, then rushed back into the playroom to look for Benji's tiger back pack. I found it a few minutes later downstairs in the hall closet. Meanwhile, Jane got dressed in record time, still in her soggy diaper of course, and came downstairs to put her little chubby feet into her favorite, dirty, hand-me-down, blue flip flops. We were ready in 12 minutes flat. That's got to be a record. I ran my hand under the faucet, and tried to smooth out Benji's hair a bit as we rushed into the garage to get buckled into car seats.

"Mom, we didn't eat breakfast," Benji remarked as we raced down the road. Oh crap! I thought again. But then I remembered the bananas and bread that I told them to eat. If they didn't eat them I'm sure they would have come back into my room, complaining that they were hungry, so they must have eaten them.

"Didn't you eat bananas and bread like I told you to?" I asked. He thought, and then said yes. "Well, that was your breakfast today," I replied. All the while I was thinking in the back of my head, "I'm such an awesome mom."

Anyway, Benji was an hour late to his 2 1/2 hour preschool, but he made it! Carolyn (his teacher and my friend who I also happen to visit teach) understands.

When I returned home, I also found the oven still on from last night's dinner. It was the bottom oven, which only has a small light to reveal that it's on, not a whole control panel. After gasping at myself again, I turned it off and then thanked Heavenly Father that our house didn't burn down in the middle of the night.

Despite the rough start to our morning, I actually am feeling better today than I have for the past week. But my throat still hurts, which is troubling. If it's still hurting tomorrow I'll go to the doctor. it'll have to be Urgent Care because I still haven't found a stinkin family doctor! Blah. I hate finding doctors. Then new patients can't get in to see the doctor for like a month, so I never follow through because when I call I need meds NOW.

I'm really hoping to be feeling better tomorrow because I need to go grocery shopping for the week, and for Ana's birthday on Thursday. She had her party last Saturday, but Thursday is her actual birthday. So we'll have our family celebration. She wants chicken Tacquitos. Yum! Such a grown up palette, that one. Last year she requested broccoli cheddar soup! Haha. I can't believe she's going to be 7! That means next year at this time she's going to be baptized! And she'll be able to attend the Women's Broadcast before conference! That just blows my mind. Holy Cow.

I also have a lunch date with a neighbor; Heather Scott. I'm excited. But I'll have to cancel if my throat's still sore:( For now I'm just hoping that I don't forget anything important for the next little while. I definitely qualified for the worst mom award today.

Labor Day

We had a nice holiday weekend. Movie night on Friday. We watched Big Hero 6 while eating pepperoni pizza rolls and grapes, and then tons of candy. Saturday was a work day, as always, but we threw in a couple trips to flea markets to look for a kitchen table, and swimming at the YMCA. Jane totally decided to swim ALL BY HERSELF! She had the pool floaties on, of course, the ones that strap around your stomach and floaties are in the back. But she didn't need Thad or I to hold her at all, she just slipped in and started doggy paddling all by herself. We were a little shocked and totally proud of her!

Sunday was a good, relaxing day. Well, after the program practice that is. That part was crazy and stressful. I was the only presidency member there on the first day of practice. I had no idea what I was doing. The beginning was a little rough and probably awkward because when I'm nervous I get awkward. But after about 20 minutes I loosened up and it went more smoothly. Soooo glad that the president (Shawna) will be back to take over next week!!

Yesterday we took the kids to the park early, before the sun and heat got too overwhelming. Thad found some new work pants and socks at the mall after that. And as always, I find myself yelling things at the kids that must sound pretty weird to strangers. Things like, "Guys, please don't play with the mannequins!"

Ana volunteered to give the lesson for Family Home Evening. She taught us about temptations, and we watched a scripture video from "The Mormon Channel." She had a scripture to share, and a personal experience. She explained that when she's eating Lucky Charms, she likes to take out all of the marshmallows and save them for last, but sometimes when she's taking them all out, she's tempted to eat one. Love that girl. She did a great job. She also invited us to share our testimonies, which we did. I told the kids that Heavenly Father loves us so He gives us tools to help us overcome temptations: prayer, scripture study, obeying, having FHE and going to church, things like that will help us to resist Satan's temptations. And if we do give in and make a bad choice, we can repent and start over. Thad and I are constantly proud of Analyn and her righteous desires.

Blakely continues to be the skinniest of our children. Thankfully she (like the other 3 kids) is a very a mild-mannered, pleasant baby. She just fell asleep on my lap as we speak:)

Jane continues to fight us on sleep. Getting her down for a nap take about an hour. Getting her down for bed at night takes several. So we get a lot of the following lately:

3 a.m. sleeping in front of the bathroom in the upstairs hallway.

  and this mid-day accidental nap because she was soooo tired ...

Jane

Jane learned how to crawl out of her crib a couple weeks ago. She's our first child to learn to do that! Now suddenly the excitement of being able to crawl out of her crib whenever she wants is just too much to handle I guess. She's waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room for no reason. We can hear her coming because she drops down from the crib railing onto the floor with a loud thud. Then she opens and slams her door shut behind her, and opens and slams our door shut as she enters our room. And in the mornings apparently she's so excited to crawl out of her crib that she's now waking up at 7, 7:30 a.m. instead of 8, 8:30a.m. It's a big accomplishment I guess. Kind of cute, kind of annoying.

Blakely's had a rough two weeks. She's been constipated! Poor thing. She only poops about once a week right now. But in between poops she gets fussy after eating and kicks and strains like she's trying to get it out. I took her to the dr. and got some tips, but she's still only pooping once a week. I wish she could talk to I know what's wrong.

I started pulling wallpaper off of the office walls, to prepare the room for Ana. Thad took the mirrored wall off piece by piece on Saturday. It actually came off pretty easily. And so did the wallpaper, once I got the hang of it. I have two more walls to do today, then Thad will start priming the drywall tonight. Then it's more prime and paint, then on to do the exact same thing in the nursery. Remove wallpaper, prime drywall, ...... Uggh, sometimes I wish all we had to do is paint a room and that's it. But nope, older homes come with a lot more work. You have to tear off mirrors, paneling, wallpaper, etc., and fix drywall before you can even start painting. Oh well. There is some satisfaction in doing the work and completing it I guess! But inside I'm telling myself, "In our next house ...." bet you can finish my sentence:)

Ana is enjoying school. She doesn't seem as excited about it as last year, though. Maybe the excitement of Kindergarten, when everything is new and exciting, has worn off. But at least she's still happy. This year she started simple spelling and math tests! Yikes! But she aced the first one so I have high hopes. She's in the High Abilities program, which means that she scored well on her NWEA tests last year so she's in a class with other High Abilities kids, and her teacher is geared toward challenging those kids. But not too challenging. She's supposedly very creative and fun. I think it'll be a good experience for Ana.

I'm enjoying time alone with Benjamin. He seems more responsible and accountable without Ana's shadow to follow in. Don't get me wrong, I love to see those to play together, but I also enjoy this other side of Benjamin when she's not around. I talk to him more, and listen to his ideas and thoughts. When I ask him to go do his chores, he'll nod his head and say, "Got it!" and he goes, and does. He helps get diapers and wipes for Blakely, and other little errands for me. I've noticed how much he's grown and matured. He started preschool in 2 weeks and is very excited. It's at Carolyn Neal's house, one of the lady's that I visit teach. Her daughter, Tessa, is in Sunbeams with Benji, and will be in his preschool class. So I think he'll love it.