Come Along to the Land of Obey

I just stumbled across this:

from Brite Music.  It's the Standin' Tall collection!  At $140 for the downloadable set, I won't be getting it any time soon, but, ah the memories.  I still regularly break into song with,
"Mister Robinson, Mister Robinson! What a horrible mess.
I broke your window with my ball, and I've come to confess.
You knew I'd be angry?  Yes.  Aren't you afraid?  Yes!
You'll have to pay for the mess you've made.
But I'm proud of you child for you have displayed,  
Honor, the stuff from which heroes are made.
I told the truuuuuuuuth!"

I think I could probably quote the entire "Honor" album from memory and make my own .mp3 track.  I do the voices and everything, but it wouldn't be the same.  I think I could do the "Dependability", "Obedience", and "Happiness" too: "How many steps to the top of the tower, huff and puff, huff and puff...  No one can give me anything for my birthday, I have EVERYTHING [sob]."  I remember "Self-esteem" and "Work" alright.  "Cleanliness" kind of creeped me out.

It's funny how well I remember them.  I don't know if they influenced my behavior at all (maybe it's because of the creepy "Cleanliness" cassette that I didn't start showering daily until 9th grade), but I sure enjoyed them and thoroughly absorbed them.  Although, back then, I absorbed almost everything.  I also find myself singing the songs from the "Bounce Back" cassette as well as obscure and bizarre music on Dr. Demento's radio show that Jared and I listened to at midnight on the weekends when we could get away with it.  Perhaps we'll find way to get them for the kids one of these days.

Laundry Time

About ten years ago, I was helping some friends move some things.  They had been married for a few months now and had recently bought a washer and dryer together.  They mentioned that someone had suggested that they were taking a big risk making such a big purchase together.  The shared ownership meant that they would really need to be committed to each other or else things could get ugly.

Well, after nearly seven years of marriage and three children, we finally decided that now we're really going to commit to making this work.  So we bought a washer and dryer.  They were used.  They were off Craigslist.  We pulled the seats out of our van and drove up to Round Rock to get them.

I'm not going to post a picture of them.  They look like a used washer and dryer.  We're hoping the convenience and savings over the laundromat will make up the cost of the machines.  We drove both cars to pick them up so that we could stop by that big store up there. 

We wandered for a while, but it was getting close to nap time.

 Fortunately, that wasn't a problem.  It was also close to lunch time.  The only trouble there was that they only had caffeinated soda.  So we  drank Lingonberry juice.  It tasted kind of like diluted cranberries.

We all had a good time.

Now we need to rethink our laundry strategy.  Instead of letting dirty clothes pile up until they threaten to swallow us whole, we can wash clothes one load at a time.

This is a pair of cute babies.

Woman to Woman

I was sitting down to lunch with the kids when Emily suddenly got a very contemplative look on her face.
"Mama," she said musingly, "I want to marry Eric but he doesn't really want to marry me. How can I make him want to marry me?"
I told her she had to be really nice to him so he would like her again.
"And if he likes me again he will want to marry me?"
I told her maybe, when she and Eric are grown up. I might have also told her to play a little hard-to-get. You know, to give her a head start in the game. :) Okay, so not really for that reason. Mostly because she ends up chasing Eric around the playground or primary room, wanting to sit right next to him and then he gets frustrated with her.
I never thought this sort of conversation would come so early.

Also, on a totally unrelated note, we went to Hamilton Pool today with some friends. I actually stole this picture off one of their blogs (thanks Jen!). I was nervous to go with three kids and no Joseph, but it ended up being fun and Caleb only almost drowned twice (thanks again Jen!).

Domestic Diva

Since she was just a wee thing, barely able to walk, Emily has loved to prepare imaginary meals for us. She often coerces us into playing along with her tea parties and it gives her great satisfaction to see a pretend meal consumed with gusto.
Yesterday I decided to put this little domestic diva to work. Under my supervision, she managed to put together a pan of cheese stuffed shells and red sauce with minimal damage to the kitchen. It actually turned out really well and she was telling the truth when she announced to Joseph that she had made dinner for the family. And then we didn't have to pretend to enjoy her pretend food - we could actually really eat it!
Today Emily made some rolls for dinner while I made the soup. Since there was no kneading involved (we used the KitchenAid), she was able to do most of it on her own. She loved it.

Here she is rolling out the dough.

  Then she donned an apron to brush butter onto it.

 And finally, after all that work, the Little Red Hen had the privilege of sampling the first roll hot out of the oven.

Afterward, when we retired to the living room to relax, she dictated a few recipes for me to write into her recipe book. Here is the new addition for today:

All the things that bread needs:
Put yeast and flour and water in the bowl. Turn on the mixer. Put in more flour. Add oil and salt and sugar. Roll the dough into a circle. Brush on melted butter. Roll the dough up and let it rest for a little while. Put it in the oven.
Make some orange juice too [we did this while the bread was rising]. Put the stuck-together orange juice in. We still need some water to make it bigger. Mix it up.

And, voila! There's your delicious bread and juice afternoon snack!

Tiny Ballerina

Emily started taking ballet/tap just before Elinor was born. They have been working toward yesterday's recital since the beginning of the year. While I have my complaints about the studio, Emily's class has been great. The teacher is fun and patient and there are only three other girls, so Emily has been able to become good friends with them.
The recital is a big event, so before leaving we took some pictures of Emily. Rather, we asked a friend to take pictures of Emily for us with her nice camera and sweet photography skills.

Here's the lineup of little girls on the stage (Emily's class combined with another bigger one). I did record it, but between the darkened auditorium, my unfamiliarity with the camcorder, and Elinor's constant jostling of my arms, the movie ended up pretty shaky and sea-sickness-inducing. Plus I might have filmed another girl for most of the time because I thought she was Emily. But we won't delve into that issue. She is furthest to the left, just so you know.  Anyway, the video mostly showed a bunch of girls staring out at the audience vaguely remembering that they were supposed to be dancing. So we will settle for a picture.

 Here's the little starlet after her big number. I am the tiger mother hovering behind. Afterward we went out for donuts to celebrate. Fun times! I am going to be singing the recital song, "Animal Crackers," for weeks, I'm sure.

Not an athlete

So, the 17th of this month marked eight months of having little Elinor in our home. She is such a sweet little thing. - probably the lowest maintenance of the three. Definitely easier than Caleb was! I am able to sit her on the floor in the living room while I'm making dinner or doing something else and she is usually happy to play on her own for at least a half hour.
Part of the reason she is so easy is that she is old enough to play but can't crawl yet. Here is a catalog of her skills:

Lying on her back.

Lying on her tummy.

 Wearing spaghetti on her head and thinking she's hilarious.

She can sit on her own and is also pro at sucking on a pacifier and eating three jars of food a day.

And that about sums it up, folks. She has rolled over probably six times in her life.  Those thighs are pretty sweet, no? She may want to start working some of that off soon. :)

 Emily and Caleb were both crawling before seven months. I am convinced that Elinor has been holding off on the physical milestones in favor of intellectual ones. I am just waiting for her to start speaking in full sentences and composing symphonies. Come on, baby! We believe in you!

Father son outing

Caleb and I went out camping the weekend to celebrate the restoration of the priesthood to the earth.  We had a great time.

 Caleb wasn't sure if he liked leaving mom behind, but everything was okay when our juice monster discovered that CapriSun was part of the deal.

Jacob made a bold statement in pink galoshes.  Whales and Eskimos don't wear galoshes.

We had the boys setup camp while we sat around telling jokes.  My heart sank when I went to fill up the air mattress only to discover that our re-chargeable pump was not re-charged---not even a little.  Suddenly the ground looked rockier than it had a moment earlier.
Fortunately, I had brought my cot.  Usually, I keep it by my desk at work.  I've had a few occasions to use it there.  People who come in think it's because I spend late hours at work.  Actually, it's because of late hours at home.  Sometimes work is the only place to find a few moments' peace and quiet.
Unfortunately, the cot doesn't fit in our tent, and with recent rains, there were all manner of insects out, seemingly in search of blood.  My heart, already sunken, now found new depths of annoyance.

By partially dismantling the cot and stretching out the tent in a way that probably destroyed the water-proofing, we managed to get the cot protected from the bumps in the night. 

I helped Caleb to bed after the fireside program (lampside, due to the current burn-ban).  He snuggled up with his bears and blankets.  I headed into the tent after chatting for a little bit longer.  It didn't come as a surprise to me that I had somehow not brought my own blanket in my rush to get everything out the door.  I wrapped my jacket around my legs and curled up underneath the cot with a small blanket Caleb had jettisoned.

It got cold---much colder than I had anticipated.  Caleb woke up whimpering and I covered him back with his blanket, put my shoes back on to cover my feet, and wore the jacket.  Not much later, Caleb was still cold and I was pretty miserable.  I went to the car and found the wool blanket that my blessed mother had given us to keep in the car for emergencies.  I shared it with Caleb on the cot.  He slept fine the rest of the night/morning.  I listened to his rather loud breathing, accepted his kicks and elbows as payback for my own father's uncomfortable camping experiences, and watched the sky lighten ever so slowly. 

 It was kind of a rough night.  But the juice monster was satisfied to curl up with the blanket and wait for breakfast.  He left Dora the Explorer's chair for me.

Breakfast was delicious.  While we were breaking up camp, the cows wandered over to see why there was so much commotion in their bathroom.  We (mostly Brother Smith) had shoveled a rather large number of pies out of the way.  The cows were put out that their careful decoration efforts had been undone and told us, "Aw dry up" when we asked about their cottage cheese.

We had a good time and were home before eleven in the lovely morning.  It was fun to camp out and spend time with friends, but what a sight for sore, tired eyes were the beautiful ladies who partied at home while we shivered through the night.

C is for Cutie Head

Caleb is a middle child. He is more clingy and more needy, but gets a little less attention. Joseph may argue with that last detail. Anyway, today I wanted to write about my little boy and how funny he is. I don't know if you've noticed, but the ability to smile when you're not happy or frown when you're not upset is not something kids are born with. One of my favorite things to do lately is to ask Caleb to express a certain emotion and then laugh at what he does. Here he is smiling. I think he tries to copy my Asian smile because he seems to focus more on squinting his eyes than moving his mouth.

Here's his frown.

And the wink. You can kind of see that one eye is open wider than the other. And, um, sorry about the shot up the nose there.

Yesterday Caleb went through a record five pairs of pants. His first were soaked from the rain. His second were also soaked, this time from slipping in a puddle. His third were soaked from running through puddles in an attempt to get to the car. His fourth had soup spilled on them at lunch time. His fifth held out until bedtime.

Yeah, yesterday was a pretty eventful day. While Emily was at a friend's house for her joy school, we got rain. Lots of rain. So much that there was a river running past our back door and the front yard was a lake. Of course Caleb wanted to play in it, so I let him for a little while. He was soaked almost as soon as he stepped out the door. He did enjoy himself, though he seemed unsure of how to play without Emily around.

 We came inside and I dried him off, then we both walked into my bedroom and he promptly slipped and fell onto the floor. In a huge puddle of water. It took two bath towels and a lot of furniture moving to mop it all up. I tossed a third towel into the corner to catch any additional water that might seep in and it was also soaked through by the end of the day. Fun times!

And here's a random Superman picture taken at the Botanical Gardens about a month ago.

 I do love my little boy.

Treats and Naps

 Isn't my husband wonderful? I loved that Mother's Day post that he did. Now I get to tell you about the other things he did for me. Joseph typically does all he can to help out with the kids, but he made sure to give me several hours on Saturday to get things done kid-free. Then he gave me roses (he couldn't figure out how to hide them until Sunday) and set them up neatly in an old milk container. It made me smile. You know how milk is special to our family. :)  On Sunday Joseph made dinner and worked all evening to prepare a dessert for FHE on Monday as an extended Mother's Day activity. We got to eat spongecake topped with fresh fruit and homemade ice cream. I love a man who knows his way around the kitchen!

Here's a glimpse of the milk jug flowers.

Now I just wanted to quickly address Emily's strange sleeping habits. I found her like this maybe a month ago after I put the kids down for naps.

Oh, you don't see her? Well maybe that is because she has been engulfed by that giant red beanbag. Doesn't that look safe?

 Today Emily REFUSED to nap on the couch for me. This was her way of rebelling:

Let's hope this gives her enough of a rush to cure her of any other rebellious thoughts.

One more quick story:
Today while I was doing dishes, Emily came into the kitchen and started setting up some of her little toys on the table.
Me: Oh, sorry the table is so crowded with dishes. I should have cleared them off.
Emily: That's okay, Mom. It's not your fault.
Me: Whose fault is it then?
Emily: Huh?
Me: Is it your fault? or maybe Caleb's?
Emily: Hmm. No, I made a mistake. It IS your fault. It's okay though. Just don't let it happen again.

What am I going to do with her?

Happy Mother's Day

Elinor and Caleb seem scandalized that you're putting make-up on Emily at such a young age.

Caleb doesn't approve.

Elinor thinks it's hilarious.

Emily loves having sparkly lips.

We love you, Amanda.  You're wonderful.  Grandmas, these pictures are more for you than anyone else.  We love you too and miss you a bunch.