December 30th, 2010

We have an elf at our house. A couple of days ago we could not find the remote for the TV. Shelby and I both turned the house upside down trying to find it. I am 100% certain that I  I put it on the coffee table the night before, but it just disappeared. Yesterday I was straightening up downstairs with Carson by my side when I went to put some shoes in Lilly's room. I was gone for about 10 seconds and when I came back, Carson was holding the long searched for remote. Earlier this week we had a similar mishap with Shelby's work keys. We looked everywhere before giving up and borrowing someone else's key. Later that day we found them in the office. I would blame the kids if it were not for the vitamins I lost. It was a brand new bottle that I swear I put in the kitchen cupboard (where no children can reach). When I went to take one they were nowhere to be seen. I emptied the cupboard and put everything back and still nothing. Yesterday I opened the cupboard for something else and there they were, sitting right in front of everything exactly where I put them. Elves...

Rachel watched an episode of the Cosby Show where Rudy does chores for money to buy her mom a birthday present. She has been a cleaning machine ever since. I was otherwise distracted when she came downstairs and explained to me what all she had done and why. "Now you give me some money." She demanded. The problem is she just assumed this would be OK with me, but I was quite unaware of her plan. Further, her idea of doing chores and my idea of doing chores are not the same. She "mopped the floor" and cleaned the windows, but when it came to doing the less exciting chores, her enthusiasm waned and complaining set in. All said and done, she did help me quite a bit, and in the process earned 32 cents to go in her "money pang" (piggy bank). I am pretty sure she is not saving up with a gift for me in mind.

Lilly has developed a habit of getting right in your face when she has something important to tell you and enunciating her words while talking slowly. "I WANT SOME CANDY!" She does not yell, mind you. She just seems to want to be very sure she is understood. I think this is part of her middle child syndrome, and an effort to be heard. She seems extra disappointed when the answer is still no. Like she's thinking "did I not explain this to you?"

Poor Carson has a horrible little cough that seems to be bothering his parents more than himself. Last night it was ceaseless, but he was sleeping right through. I got him up anyway and tried to give him a drink of water. He wanted nothing to do with it. We ran a hot shower and tried to expose him to the steam and rubbed Vic's all over his chest, none of which amused him. He obviously just wanted to go back to bed, but parents know best, right? When we finally had done all we could, we put him back to bed. His coughing was much better for the rest of the night. At least if he did cough it didn't bother the three of us. 

December 28th, 2010

Shelby took the whole week before Christmas off. It was awesome! I wish he could be home all the time. We all played too hard and slept too much, and nothing got done around the house, but it was worth it. Shelby took the girls to movies two days in a row, and then on Christmas eve, he took them to PoJo's. He is now considered the fun parent but I don't care. I am glad they got to spend time together. And it made Christmas week much less stressful for me.

The kids had a wonderful Christmas, and despite Santa's efforts to keep it simple this year all three of them were spoiled rotten. Considering the only thing Rachel asked for this year was bubble gum, it is safe to say that my kids are easily pleased. Rachel and Lilly both loved a princess art set they got, complete with stickers, paint, color crayons "weird color crayons" (according to Rachel), markers, and color pencils. Carson's favorite gift is a toss up from the tool set he got from his cousin and the cement truck he got from Papa and Nonna. According to Lilly, the reason Santa got them all these presents is because I wouldn't.

Christmas eve we took the kids to Jaker's along with uncle Cody. We were a little nervous about bringing them to a nicer restaurant so we had a talk about it beforehand. We told the girls that it was important that they talk quietly and not get out of their seats. Jaker's turned out to be a zoo, and not at all quiet. My kids could have had temper tantrums and nobody else in the restaurant would have known. When we first walked in I took Rachel right to the bathroom. While we were in there she whispered in my ear "Is it OK if I talk in here?" I told her that it was OK if she talked as loud as she wants while we are in the restaurant as long as she is polite, and she was. Rachel and Lilly are both growing into wonderful young ladies.

We are the luckiest parents in the world because our kids still let us sleep in on Christmas morning. Around 9am, when there was still no sound from the kids I woke Shelby up because I couldn't wait any longer. The kids opened presents and then we had a waffle breakfast. I even made the effort to get whipped cream and strawberries. I learned something about my family that morning. While everyone loves whipped cream (and really, who doesn't) none of them like strawberries on their waffles except me. After breakfast we met the rest of my family at the Surprise Valley clubhouse to open more presents and play with cousins. I would say that all made for one killer Christmas. Stay tuned for pictures.

RE: A Change

This was an accidental post from my mom who thought she was posting it on her blog, but she was really logged into mine. The FitMania website will not have any updates on my family.

December 17th, 2010

I have been so bad about doing this blog! My excuse is a combination of being sick because of this pregnancy, and being forgetful because of this pregnancy. I barely seem to remember my own name. The kids have treated me so well for the last couple of weeks. They have been sleeping some mornings until 9am (so have I), they have played nicely with each other and required little from me besides meals. Usually they have to remind me about the meals. Since I don't feel like eating I assume everyone feels the same way. I am so glad I have such great kids. People keep telling me that this pregnancy is probably harder because of the little ones I have at home, but I really do not think that is it. The three of them make it easy on me.

We decorated the tree a few days ago. The tree has been the highlight of their worlds ever since. Rachel runs through the house as soon as the sun goes down turning all the lights out so she can see the Christmas tree lights better. And you should see how Rachel and Lilly can spot Christmas lights when we are driving in the car. I will usually hear one of them shout "Mom look over there! Way over there! I see one!" I search and search until I see a speck of light coming from a house in a distant neighborhood that may be Christmas lights, or may be just a porch light left on.

We went on a walk the other day and about 5 minutes in, Lilly informed me that she was having a heart attack. I asked her if she knew what that was and she responded cheerfully "oh, it's OK. I got it out!" On the way home she told me Carson was now having a heart attack. I would love to know what goes on in her precious little brain!

An anonymous family gave us presents for the Twelve Days of Christmas. This was a nice thing, and the kids have had a blast. My one issue would be the "4 calling birds" we got in the form of recorders. It has been non stop music action at our house. Really my complaint is in jest. Mostly I love listening to the three of them try to harmonize. In the excitement of opening the gift last night, Carson put a blanket over his head to pretend he was a ghost and took a tumble down the stairs. He was just fine, but it scared him and me both!

Sarah asked me to watch her kids for an hour the other day, and since I had to be in Boise anyway, we planned to take them to Burger King to play while I watched them. Before hand we all met at the mall with my mom. What a disaster! The seven kids were manageable with the three of us, but as soon as Sarah left, chaos ensued. We decided to just stay at the mall to play in their play area, but we thought we should feed them first. Getting all seven kids (ages 1-6) on the escalator, safely to the food court and back down the escalator was a challenge enough. The added challenge of keeping any one of them from running off while we were eating, plus the occasional bathroom need was difficult but doable. It was not until Ian had an accident that things fell apart. I took him to the car to change him while my mom took care of the rest of the kids in the play area. This was our first mistake. I should not have left her with so many. Sure enough right after Ian and I left, Rachel and Lilly decided they needed to use the bathroom. My mom wasn't sure what to do with the others so she left Brady in charge. Luckily he is a responsible boy, because when my mom got back everyone was still there. I was hallelujahing when I got to the car because I happened to have a pair of pants for Ian to wear. By the time Ian and I got back (with one extra stop at Sees for some stress relief chocolate) it was time to go. After we got all seven kids across the mall and to the appropriate cars everyone looked totally worn out, but I took the cake. Between being green and being wiped out, I looked like death. The trip was a memory I would not trade for the world. A side note about the mall trip. Carson approached three different old men and either hugged them around their legs or tried to get them to pick him up. I am going to have to watch that sweet boy or someone is going to walk away with him.

December 6th, 2010

Lilly has always been passionate about life. She vacillates between ecstatic and devastated at least a half-dozen times a day. I did not think it was possible but over the last couple of weeks, her passion has intensified. We are seeing this in the form of more crying, weeping, hysterical fits. I want to be sympathetic, but when I ask her what is wrong, and she answers almost indecipherably "I can't find my red color crayon!" I have a hard time feeling sorry for her. When she learned that we were going to have a baby-sitter on Saturday night she said in a sweet voice "I want to tell the baby-sitter that I spend too much of my life crying."

Shelby always packs some kind of snack for the kids to eat during sacrament meeting on Sundays. Yesterday he brought a bag of Cheerie-os. I thought I would try a game my dad used to play with me. I told Lilly, and then Rachel, that I could see Cheerie-os in their ears. I would pretend to dig them out and then show them the Cheerie-o that was already hiding in my hand. I must have been convincing because whenever I would do it to Rachel she would grimace, and get this disgusted look on her face while I "got the Cheerie-o out". I laughed a little and forgot about it until I looked over and saw them sticking Cheerie-os in each other's ears. Images of emergency room visits danced through my head and I revealed the secret of my magic trick, which has now been banned.

I asked the girls to write a letter to Santa today. I wrote while they listed the gifts they wanted. Lilly's went as follows: "I want a Barbie and a Buzz Lightyear coloring book and broken ears and a broken arm." I asked her why she wanted broken body parts and she said "because it's funny!"

December 1, 2010

We woke up this morning to 5 inches of snow. It was all the girls could do to wait until after breakfast and chores to go outside and play with it. When I finally was able to round up enough snow gear for them to go out, they still resembled puzzles with pieces missing. We had snow pants that fit Lilly, 2 pairs that fit Carson, both size 12 months, and none that fit Rachel. So I put the Lilly size on Rachel, and one of the Carson size on Lilly (huge stretch). They all had coats and hats, but only Lilly had gloves. I put socks on Rachel's hands and covered them with saran wrap and duct tape (don't judge me). That lasted about 1 minute before Rachel decided she could not make a proper snowball with all that stuff on her hands, so she ended up going out with just socks covering her hands. Carson just went without. I had two pairs of snow boots for Carson, and none for the girls, so I smushed Lilly's feet into the biggest pair of the two and put the other pair on Carson. I put zip lock bags on Rachel's feet over her tennis shoes. Despite the missing gear, the girls were not deterred at all. Carson lasted 10 minutes and insisted on being held the whole time. To his credit, this is the first real snow he has ever seen, and it came up to his knees. Once I put him down for a nap, the girls and I had a grand old time making snowmen and throwing snowballs. Our snowman had a carrot nose of course, and jar rings for eyes (glasses) and a straw for a mouth. Rachel would have stayed out all day, but Lilly and I were done after an hour. I have not played out in the stow like that since I was a kid. I have distinct memories of my dad teaching me the ins and outs of snowman and snowball making. Today I passed down that knowledge. 

Rachel has decided that she wants to do karate after all, because she wants to "get big and strong". We braved the snow and made it safely to karate. But with no food in the house, and me using pregnancy as an excuse to take it easy, we decided to go to dinner with the kids tonight after karate. The girls are getting better and better at behaving correctly at restaurants. They order for themselves, they are polite to the waitress, and we leave a much smaller mess than we used to. I am so proud.

November 30, 2010

Rachel has been cutting her own pancakes for months. At first she was really proud of herself, but as time has gone by, she has begun to see it as a chore. She fights me on it every time we have pancakes. She begs and pleads with me to cut them "just one more time." I always refuse. The other morning we were going through our usual pancake routine and finally, thinking I could reason with her I said "Rachel, do you know why I won't cut your pancakes for you? Because it is my job as a mother to make sure you grow up to be a strong, capable, responsible..." this is where she stops me and says "No mom, I am going to be a super hero!" I am pretty sure she saw her mistake the same moment I did. "Fine Rachel! Do you think superheroes need their moms to cut their pancakes for them?" She cut her pancake without another word.

I loaded the kids in the car yesterday and went in to grab something. When I came back out I could here Rachel screaming for help. She sits between Lilly and Carson. As soon as I had put them in, Lilly totally clobbered Rachel. According to Rachel, Lilly hit her in the face "a lot of times" and then pinched her. Rachel had the marks to prove it. This is not the first time this has happened. We had a similar situation 2 days ago, except this time Carson and Lilly tag teamed her. I came out and Carson had a hold of her hair and Lilly was kicking her. Of course the mother in me scolded the little stinkers, but as soon as my face was hidden I couldn't stop smiling. I am sure Lilly sees it as her only opportunity to have a physical advantage over Rachel.

We had Thanksgiving at Sarah's house this year. My girls both thought marshmallows were their favorite part of the meal. Funny they failed to mention the sweet potatoes the marshmallows went on top of. Even though Carson can't speak, I am pretty sure marshmallows were his favorite as well. My family always does a great Thanksgiving meal, and an abnormal amount of pie. We had 12 pies, which worked out to about 1/2 a pie per person, and that is quite a bit less than last year. Of course we hardly put a dent in them, but we love to have the options. We had 2 pumpkin, 2 apple, 2 dark chocolate cream, 2 berry pies, banana cream, lemon meringue, peach, and pecan.

November 23, 2010

Lilly was a dog this morning. She yelped her way to where I was sitting and gave me a big slobbery dog kiss on the arm. Why is it that a dog can lick his butt, then lick a person and it is OK, but when a 3-year-old who brushes her teeth every day licks you it is disgusting? Lilly is an excellent pretender, and as such she did not see the problem with licking me as long as she was a dog at the time. Understand when Lilly is a dog, she is 100% a dog.



Dressing up for Trick or Treating mid-summer with Ian



Rachel is having a play date with Sarah Winger today. I use both her first and last name when discussing her with Rachel so she doesn't get confused between Sarah Winger and Aunt Sarah. Now every time she says anything to Sarah Winger she calls her by her full name. Sarah is a very sweet girl, but she is the youngest of 6 kids by quite a bit, and they very obviously adore her. I am not sure how she will handle having the noise, drama and teasing of 2 younger siblings around. Her family seems so peaceful!

Carson has a new word, one that I am sure he picked up from his sisters. Everything is "mine!" at the very least, and usually "Mine! Mine!Mine!..." I knew this day would come, but it is so annoying! The problem is it usually works to get him what he wants, thanks to Mother #2 and Mother #3 (Rachel and Lilly).

Since there is not much going on in our lives worthy of blogging about, here are some words before I forget:

Rachel calls bananas "blanas," piano is "plano" and for a while, yellow was "lellow". Shelby taught her to yell the first part to get it right, so now yellow is "YELL-ow!" Lying is not called lying, it is called "doing a lie" and instead of saying "are we" she says "is it we are". For example "is it we are going to swim lessons today?" Oh, another great one. She calls sweaty "slobbery," as in "my body is all slobbery."



Fun with Dad



Lilly calls seagulls "skeetos" (short for mosquitoes), computer is "peeter" (this is Rachel's as well), and my all time favorite, together is "togwether" as in "let's do it togwether".  With Lilly we are never going to the store, we are always going "out the store". And stop lights are "stop lions". When we are stopped at one Lilly says its eyes are closed. And if you try to tell her the right way to say it, I must warn you, you will lose.

Carson's word for everything is "uh!"

November 18th, 2010

Yesterday morning Rachel and Lilly got in a heated argument about which one of them was going to marry Carson. They brought their argument to me and I told them neither one of them can marry Carson because you cannot marry family members. Rachel looked disheartened. "Well can I marry Brady?" "No, because Brady is in your big family, since he is your cousin." She then put her head in her hands and asked "Who will be my husband?" "Someone you probably don't know yet" I answered. Then a very concerned, dramatic "how will I find a man?"

Rachel decided a few weeks back that she doesn't want to do karate lessons anymore because she "knows everything". This is also her justification by the way for not wanting to go to church. Lilly still loves karate, so she has continued on. Her class is in the evening now, so I leave the other kids at home and just take Lilly. It has been delightful to spend some one-on-one time with her. The first day while we were driving I was half listening to her and half listening to NPR. A few minutes into the drive I turned the radio off because Lilly was much more entertaining. I can't put it into words exactly, she just cracks me up.

Lyn (Shelby's step-dad) is coming to visit this weekend. This will be his first visit to our house. The kids have only met him a couple of times, but they are still excited. Mostly this is because they sincerely love the people in their world, but it doesn't hurt that he has agreed to teach them how to make candy while he is here. Rachel keeps asking how many sleeps until he comes. This is the way she counts her days.

November 16th, 2010

Our Internet went out today. The cable guy who came to look at it was very nice, and my kids talked his ear off. Rachel was asking questions about what he was doing and with each response given she retorted with "why?" Not to be ignored, Lilly chimed in with "I want to show him my owie." I asked the cable guy if that was alright, forgetting that Lilly's owie is located directly on the back of her middle finger. Essentially she flipped him off when she showed him. I have never seen a cable guy laugh so hard. He obviously also has children of his own.

I adore my children. Maybe I have a blind eye, but I am outrageously proud of the little people they are. Today at swim lessons, Rachel stood on the bottom of the pool for seven whole seconds! A class record. Lilly made it three seconds, and considering her age and size I think that is pretty darn good. I know these are little things, but I was beaming when they got out of the pool. I wanted to tell the other mothers "those are my kids!"

Lilly and Rachel at the FarmMan. Rachel is not amused!

Lilly and Rachel are really into playing make believe right now. Almost every aspect of their day includes imagining things differently. They want me to participate, but I am horribly adult about it. My imagination is seriously lacking from years of neglect. They are re-teaching me, but in the mean time they are scripting my part for me. With Lilly, it goes something like this: "And pretend I was the mom and you was the kid. And pretend I was leaving. OK sweetie, I will see you later. And then you says 'I love you mom'. And pretend you was scared so I got you a blankie. And then you says

(insert high pitched baby voice) 'oh no mom the monsters are going to get us!' and pretend I died." See, I hardly have to do a thing.

November 14th, 2010

Our computer crashed. We thought we had lost everything. All our pictures, my journal, and the journals I have been keeping for my kids. My awesome brother-in-law (shout out to Cody) fixed it for us and was able to restore everything. But, I have been without a computer for about a week, so no blog. Everything is back now, and here we go again.

We have been trying to get Lilly to stop sucking her thumb for months now, with no success. She just loves it so much. A couple of days ago I had the idea to bribe her with a treat of her choice if she could go all day without sucking her thumb. She did great! I did not see her suck her thumb once that whole day, and in the end, she chose ice cream for her treat. I was patting myself on the back for such an ingenious plan, and we were both excited to try it again the next day. I hadn't seen her suck her thumb yet the second day when I passed out the last of our Halloween candy. Lilly disappeared with her blue sucker and showed up a few minutes later with a blue tongue and two blue thumbs. She swears up and down that she did not suck her thumb, but the evidence was incriminating enough. It turns out all my plan did was teach her how to suck her thumb in secret.

Rachel and Lilly's new favorite game is "Restaurant". They usually coerce me to play it at meal times. In this game, I serve them everything they ask for (within reason). No wonder they like it so much! The plot of the game is always the same. Rachel and Lilly pretend their parents are dead, and they are the sole caretakers of their baby brother (played by Carson, but usually going by some other name). I am a kindly old British woman, who speaks in a sing-song voice and was never able to have children of her own. In the end, I offer to let them live with me. I can even get away with getting them to happily do their chores as long as I keep the British accent. The mastermind behind this game of course is Rachel.

November 4th, 2010

Rachel is officially 5 now. Yesterday was her birthday. She came up the stairs and the first thing she said was "is it I am 5 now?" Birthdays at our house are a big deal. Rachel got to pick whatever breakfast she wanted, and she settled on French toast, her new favorite. She did not have to perform her usual chores. I didn't even make her get dressed until we actually left the house (2-ish). After breakfast she watched How to Train Your Dragon, her new favorite movie. It was a day of "yes". I let her have candy whenever she wanted, watch whatever she wanted, go wherever she wanted. After she was done playing at home, she wanted to go to the park. Then it was off to the store to buy her presents. She played at the Fred Meyer play area while I shopped. We had dinner at Chuck-a-Rama, because there, she could eat whatever she wanted. She made a modest choice of one chicken leg and some macaroni and cheese. Then ice cream with M&Ms for dessert. After dinner we met uncle Cody at the Discovery Center. It was Rachel's first time there and she loved it!

All of this birthday stuff was hard on Lilly, even though she benefited greatly from the festivities. She ate candy when Rachel did, got to watch movies, got to play at the park, and got to eat what she wanted at Chuck-a-Rama. Unlike Rachel, she took advantage of the buffet, trying pretty much anything that looked good to her. Still, the attention was all focused on Rachel. As a result, Lilly had a few breakdowns. At one point, she was downstairs crying because she was all alone. I told her to come upstairs, and through her hysterical cries she said "are you going to spank me?" "Of course not," I answered, a little surprised. "Then what are you going to do to me?" Trying to be reassuring I said "I just want to talk to you." Well, this was not reassuring to her. "No!" she screamed "it will hurt my ears!" It was obvious there was going to be no appeasing her at this point. We decided to pretend it was her birthday too, but just for pretend. That seemed to help a little.

Overall, I think it was a successful day. The problem with having a birthday so great is the next day can be sort of a let down. Rachel had a hard time adjusting this morning when she learned that we were having eggs for breakfast, and that she was once again responsible for getting dressed and cleaning her room.

November 3, 2010

This is the first post in days. The reason for the gap in recent posts was the 400 pounds of apples in my garage that needed processing (no exaggeration). About a million quarts of applesauce, apple pie filling, and apple butter later, I am almost done with canning for the year. I am pickling beets tonight and then I am putting away my water bath.

In the mean time, much has happened here. Rachel had a family birthday at our house on Sunday. All of her most important little people were there. Namely all of her cousins. At one point she came inside quite indignant, and had this to say. "Sam is not being very nice! He is pushing Brady down and NOT ME!" What she meant was that Sam was pushing Brady down the slide. She was disappointed that instead of sympathy from us all she got was a big laugh. Speaking of big laughs, Lilly was the hit of the party. She was doing her best to get a rise out of everyone, and she did well. Lilly has so much personality. Everywhere we go, she makes people smile.

Carson is such a boy. His new way of showing affection to anything male is to tackle, hit, kick, or punch it. So if you run into him on the street and he attacks you, just know it is out of love. He thinks his boy cousins are the coolest. While Asher was giving the blessing on the food, Carson marched up to him, jumped on him, and pushed him down. We had to start the prayer over.

Yesterday Shelby took the kids with him to vote. He asked Rachel before they left if she wanted to go voting. On the way there she asked "what do you need to take on a boat?" Shelby told her she would need a life jacket and a swimsuit. She responded "Dad! I forgot my swimsuit!" She thought he had asked her if she wanted to go boating. Today I asked her how she liked voting and she said "there wasn't any water."

OK, really quickly. For Halloween Rachel was a princess for the 3rd year in a row, Lilly was a ladybug, and Carson was a lion. We did trunk-or-treating at the church Saturday night, and then we carved jack-o-lanterns at home. Lilly's was FREAKY!

October 28th, 2010

It is hard to say whether grounding your 4-year-old from TV is more of a punishment for them or for you. Not only do you have no distraction for said 4-year-old, but you also have to endure endless begging for reconsideration of the no TV rule. Rachel was originally grounded because I asked her to put her shoes on for swim lessons. Instead she turned on the TV. Her defense was that Carson made her do it. This all happened on statements day, which takes all of my time and attention. I RELY on TV as a baby-sitter on statements day. Instead I told them to go clean their room, knowing full well that unsupervised this can turn into an all day affair. Often the room gets much worse before it gets better. It worked. It was 7pm before the room was clean, a full 30 minutes before bed time. And the bonus was, Rachel and Lilly spent all day playing together and had no major fallouts.

A switch flipped for Carson. He is now mimicking words like crazy. And he will sign any word I teach him. He is enjoying his new found ability to communicate with us. He says "no-no!" which sounds more like "doh-doh!" Also, variations of "stinky", "thank you", and "up".

After my run this morning I asked Lilly for a hug. She told me no because I "smell like exercise". She did tell me if I take a shower and change my clothes, then she will hug me. I guess that is the end of the unconditional affection!

October 26th, 2010

My sister watched the kids while I did my workout yesterday. My plan was to stop at the store on my way to pick them up but the workout took much longer than I expected. I was trying to decide if I should still stop at the store, or if I should pick them up first when a thought occurred to me. I missed them. And even though picking them up first would make the whole affair take twice as long and much more stressful, I wanted them with me. They are such delightful little people! And they didn't disappoint. We laughed a lot at the store. Or rather, I laughed a lot. In the car, after we were done, Lilly and Rachel got into it a little and Lilly declared "I don't love anyone!" I asked her if she still loved me, and she said "yes". Then she listed all of the exceptions to her no-love declaration. "I love Nonna and Papa, and Grandma and Grandpa, and all aunts and uncles and Carson." So what it boiled down to is that she no longer felt any love for Rachel. I told Lilly that unfortunately she has no choice, and must love her sister.

Speaking of Lilly, she just came upstairs with her pants and shirt on backwards. I sent her down to get her shoes on and I am betting money that she puts them on the wrong feet. If you tell her she will just say "It's OK with me." This happens a lot with Lilly. One day she had her pants and shirt on backwards, along with shoes on the wrong feet. Later that day I noticed her panties were inside out and on sideways. But if it is OK with her it is OK with me.

The thing I love most about having kids is watching how excited they get about little things. Today is swim lessons day. I reminded Rachel last night. Her eyes lit up and she got a big smile on her face. "I'm going to swim tomorrow?" She was giddy. I told Lilly about swim lessons this morning, and she got the same wonderful look of delight on her face and she said "I'm going to go tell Rachel! Hey Rach!" And she was off. Everything important in their world is small and simple. Candy, family, cousins, books, movies, and swim lessons. We should all be so easily pleased!

October 24th, 2010

Rachel got to have a sleep-over at my parents' house along with her cousins Brady, Brock, and Sam. Lilly did not make the cut-off for this particular slumber party, which I knew could be disastrous for our mostly peaceful little home. I asked Rachel not to talk about the sleep-over, and in the mean time told Lilly that me and her dad were going to take her on a date to McDonald's. Mostly this all went over very well and when the time came for Rachel to leave and us to go on our date, she only complained a little. On the way to McDonald's, we let her sit between us in the front seat. She linked arms with us and told us how much she loves us. When we got there, we ordered her a whole happy meal that she didn't even have to share, and an ice cream cone for dessert. The big thing was the ice cream cone, and the chance to play at the jungle gym. The first thing she did when we got there was climb to the top of the jungle gym. And that is where she stayed the whole time. She was too scared to go down the slide and too scared to climb down the way she came. There was no real way for us to go up to get her, so the two of us, along with several kids and one old lady tried to talk her into coming down. Finally I said "Lilly if you don't come now we won't have time for ice cream." The response was a rapid "OK!" and down she came.

At church today the primary kids did a program for sacrament meeting. Rachel was having none of it. It took forever to convince her to go up with her friends. Once we did, she lasted less than five minutes before she came crying back to our bench. I asked her what happened and she cried (loud enough for all to hear) "I don't want to go with my class today, it's BORING!" There were giggles aplenty, including our own.

Carson likes to play musical people. He starts in my arms, then moves to Shelby, then to the nearest other person whether he knows them or not, then back to me. I don't think it is a game to him so much as it is that he can't decide who he loves the most. When he is with me, he loves dad, when he is with dad, it is the stranger who he prefers. We went to the Hyde Park Street Fair the other day. We took our eyes off him for 1 minute, and he ran straight for a questionable, shady looking man and climbed into his lap. The guy had a look on his face of sheer confusion. I would not be surprised if he had never held a child in his life.

October 21st, 2010

While I was tucking Lilly in tonight she asked if she could count my "breath". By breath she meant teeth. She said "one, two, three, four, (giggle giggle) their slimy!" Then she sang me her own personalized version of "It's Raining It's Pouring" by inserting various names of family members. Tucking Lilly in is always a riot.

It was a beautiful day today so we spent a lot of it outside. I did something I rarely do. I played with the kids on their terms. I swung on the tire swing with them and slid down the slide. Not just out of duty to the kids. I truly played just like I was one of them. I enjoyed it, but learned the following two things: Spinning around and around on a tire swing is super fun, but as an adult, also nauseating. Also, the most efficient way to get to the top of the slide once you have slid down is to climb back up the way you came. But be aware, this is exhausting work. No wonder my kids eat so much!

Tonight the girls are having a sleepover with their friend Ben. This is big news in the world of my children, and will no doubt be the talk of the town for the next few days. I don't know how much fun Ben will think it is. I had no cool treats for them to eat, no fun games planned, and I made them go to bed at their usual time, in separate bedrooms. Still, the idea that another kid slept at their house will be enough excitement to last at least a couple of days.

Carson has finally figured out how to say "please" in sign language. It isn't exactly talking but it beats his usual grunting to get what he wants. He uses it all the time, but he has been disappointed to learn that it doesn't always work. It is not the key to a never ending flow of junk food and beverage of his choice that he first though.

October 19th, 2010

When Rachel grows up she wants to be a washer superhero. She will find all the bad guys, clean them, and then throw them in the garbage truck. I know what you are thinking, "wouldn't that just make them dirty again?" The answer to this question is yes, but it is OK. Apparently once they are in the garbage truck, they die. Washing them first is sort of a last rights ritual. My daughter is a future vigilante.

I asked the girls yesterday what they want for Christmas this year. Rachel listed off all the things she got last year. I guess last Christmas was a hit. Specifically she wants gum and playing cards, and a new horse for Lilly since hers is broken. Since her expectations are incredibly low, it should be an easy Christmas for us. When I asked Lilly what she wants she just listed off a bunch of animal costumes. I think she is getting Christmas confused with Halloween.

October 18th, 2010

With the exception of green beans, Carson is not a fan of vegetables. Really, he is not a fan of very many foods unless they are sweet. Usually he grimaces upon tongue-on-vegetable contact. That is, unless it is a vegetable that is on my plate. On the rare occasions I get to eat a meal in peace in front of the computer, he will inevitably find me. He makes it clear he wants some of my food (which is almost always vegetables) by standing right by my plate with his mouth open while he makes a sort of urgent gasping sound. I give him the food on my plate I think he will find the most repulsive, hoping it will deter him. He is so stubborn! Sometimes I see him struggling with wanting to take the bite I am giving him, but not wanting to actually eat the food. I can tell he is trying to brace himself. His eyes say "no" but his mouth says "can't-let-mom-win".

Shelby's mom visited this weekend along with her friend John. The girls were so excited. Here is the  thing about my kids, they put on a great show. When other people are around, they are not necessarily polite and perfectly behaved, but they are always entertaining. Lilly put on her own one woman show, complete with costume and a dance routine, and a whole array of very funny faces. She also played beautician for John, and did his hair so he could "look butiful." John was a great sport about it. My kids also give of their love very freely. Everyone in their world is important to them. It makes them easy to love in return.

I like that my kids think I am perfect, but this is not always a great thing. Rachel often asks me questions I do not know the answer to, but if I tell her that she doesn't believe me. The conversation usually goes something like this: "mom, why is the sky blue?" "I don't know Rachel." "But mom, why is it blue?" "I am sorry Rachel, but I just don't know." "Mom, just tell me!" This goes on until finally I make up some passable answer. When my kids go off to school they are going to have some pretty interesting ideas about things.

October 15th, 2010

Rachel said her first swear word yesterday. She was quite impressed with the work I had done on our guest bedroom and used a mild expletive to describe her feelings. I asked her to repeat what she had said, just to be certain. Sure enough, she said what I thought she did. When asked where she heard the expression and she told me she made it up. Mostly I was amused, and glad I was the first to hear it....at least I hope I was.

Three children acquire a lot of stuff. Mostly in the form of used toys given to them by well-meaning people whose own kids have outgrown them. Ours is a house of constant clutter. As a result I am forever throwing things away as I walk through my house. I am not sure if Lilly just likes exploring the contents of the garbage, or if she is just on to me, but she is always pulling toy pieces, bits of plastic, and other items she deems valuable out of the trash. "Mom, this is not garbage" she tells me in an authoritative tone. Sometimes I argue with her, but it ends in her being upset, so usually I just say "OK Lilly, go put it away." Yes, I have become that mother who gives in at times to avoid hearing a tantrum. Then during my next house cleaning I just throw it all away again. We have a stuffed Idaho Potato doll that I have thrown away at least a dozen times. Why not bury it deeper, you ask? Lilly is a digger, and if it is there, she will find it!

Carson has taken to sucking his thumb. Only when I am around and he is in the mood to push my buttons. He is not a thumb sucker, he never has been. He spent an afternoon with his cousin Lidia, who does suck her thumb. Now he thinks it's clever to do this while I am holding him. He looks me straight in the eye (daring me maybe?), inserts thumb, and waits for a reaction. A smart mom would just ignore him, which makes me think maybe I like this game too.

October 12th, 1010

Carson has 3 words: "Mom", "Dad", and "hi". I have always assumed that he is just not interested in learning to talk, and that he is going to be a little behind in the speech aspect of development. I don't think that anymore. Now I am sure he is a diabolical genius who knows how to talk just fine, but is choosing not to just to torment his mother. He gave himself away last night when he called Rachel's name. When I reacted, I am sure I saw a brief, sly little smile. And no matter how much encouraging we gave him, we could not get him to repeat himself. He gave us his usual innocent look that says "guys, I would talk if I could, honest!" I think he must practice at night when he is alone in bed.

Rachel has an imaginary friend named Poopy Dangle. He is 10, and he is the fellow that took care of Rachel when Shelby and I were in our mom's tummy. Poopy Dangle has been MIA for the past couple of months, but he resurfaced yesterday afternoon when Rachel informed me that we had accidentally left him home. Rachel well understands that I never go back for imaginary friends, therefore as far as she is concerned, Poopy Dangle can take care of himself.

Rachel and Lilly had swim lessons today. I cannot describe the enjoyment I get out of watching them prepare to go. They are so cute! On swim lesson days I can get them to do anything if I imply it will help us get to swim lessons quicker. It is the highlight of their week. Rachel keeps asking me "how many sleeps before we go to swim lessons?" Everything is currently measured in number of sleeps for Rachel.

Speaking of measurement, Lilly has been negotiating the amount of time things are going to take. Today I put her in time-out for calling Carson stupid (this is the worst of the worst of swear words as far as Lilly knows). She asked me between sobs how long she had to stay there, and I said "a couple of minutes". "No mom, I want 3 minutes, 3!" she said as she held up 3 little fingers. She woke me up kind of early the other morning and I asked her if I could just sleep for 5 more minutes. "Hmm" she says, "how about 10 minutes?" I jumped all over that deal!

October 10th, 2010

We ate dinner at my parents' house tonight. My daughters were a hoot. Merry brought her new boyfriend who spent much of the night giggling at Lilly. I don't blame him. Lilly is funny! She told my dad that her middle name is Vanilly, which of course makes her Lilly Vanilly. On the way home I made her lip sync to the songs on the radio.

Saturday morning I sent Lilly to get dressed so she could play outside. She is used to the warm weather, but on Saturday it was a little chilly. She came up in a sleeveless shirt and a short skirt. I told her that she might want to dress warmer since it is cold outside. She obediently returned to her room to put on more clothes and came back wearing a second short skirt and a second sleeveless shirt. I let her go out, and she never did complain about being cold.

The kids pretty much follow me around the house, no matter how boring my task at hand is. On Saturday I prepped the guest room to be painted. No matter how hard I tried I could not convince them that their room, outside, or even the living room would be a more fascinating place to play. Rachel and Lilly's favorite game is to play house. Usually, they pretend that their mom and dad "got killed" and now they are left alone in the world to care for their baby brother Carson (sometimes they rename him Brady). So morbid! I blame Disney. Have you ever noticed that in most Disney movies the main character is missing one or both of their parents? Anyway, it was delightful to listen first-hand to their survival techniques as they made their way in the world. Not only did they have to fend for themselves, but they also had to protect each other from that evil Roger, who so often turns up in their games of house.

October 8th, 2010

There is nothing my girls like more than birthdays. And not just their birthdays, everyone's birthdays. They don't even have to be invited, they just like to know when someone is having a birthday party. So when I told them we would be spending the afternoon finding a present for Nona's birthday (this would be my mom), they were super eager. I told Rachel before we left that she wasn't actually coming to the party and she told me in her most annoyed teenage voice with hands on hips "I know. We are having a baby-sitter". Before we left Rachel said "I have a great idea! Let's make friends at the store!" Rachel's method of making friends was by bribing them with food. She got together a zip-lock bag full of individual snack sized Craisins for both her and Lilly, and passed them out to any kid she thought would be a good candidate for a friend. I don't know how long-lasting the friendships will be, but she did make a lot of people smile.

Fun facts about Lilly: she can snap her fingers with water in her mouth. Also, do not mistake Lilly for a dude because she is a "dudatte".

October 7th, 2010

Carson has a new fascination with being naked. I can't let him run around in just a diaper anymore because he immediately takes it off. Yesterday I made the mistake of putting him down for a nap in just his diaper. When I came to get him out of bed, the diaper was on the floor and he had pooped all over his bedding. I allow each of my kids ONE poopy bed mess as babies. I guess Carson used his.

Another fascination Carson has is with our cats, Cat and Jackie Cat (named by Rachel). Any time he sees one of the cats lying around, he grabs the cat food dish and dumps it out in front of them. I know he thinks he is just being helpful, but for me it is a real problem. I spend most of my day cleaning up cat food and poop. Tonight Rachel was trying to talk me into letting her stay up, and I thought I would use her pleas to my advantage. I told her she could stay up if she cleaned for me the whole time. She eagerly agreed. The first thing I had her do was vacuum up the latest cat food mess. Of course Lilly was not about to be left out of the fun so I told her she could stay up too if she promised to help Rachel. She helped her alright. As soon as Rachel vacuumed up one cat food mess, Lilly would sprinkle more around the living room, just so Rachel would never run out of things to vacuum. We go through a lot of cat food.

Speaking of Lilly, we have been getting her out of bed before our own bedtime to have her go potty one more time. She seemed a little over padded in the bum when we woke her up tonight. It turns out she was wearing 5 pairs of panties. I want to know what she was thinking about when she put them on.

Finally, Rachel was invited over by her primary friend, Sarah today. Sarah's mom called me and asked if Rachel wanted to come over. I told Sarah's mom that I would ask Rachel. I had no trouble convincing her. She was very excited to go play with Sarah, and when I dropped her off, she seemed just fine with the whole thing.  Later when I picked her up and asked her if she had fun she said "Yeah, but that was the wrong Sarah." I was a little puzzled at first, but Rachel explained that she thought she was going to aunt Sarah's house, "you know, Brock and Brady's mom". It turns out we know an awful lot of Sarahs.

October 6th, 2010

I walked in on Carson going through my purse today. He had eaten all my gum, played with my make-up and was currently taking all of the credit cards out of my wallet. He knew he was busted and tried the whole "I didn't know any better" look, but I wasn't fooled. I said "You get out of here, mister!" and he was up and out in no time. A few moments later he brought me an old shriveled up piece of zucchini as a peace offering. He handed it to me with a smile and a look that said "are we OK now?" I thanked him for the zucchini, but informed him that we are in no way even. I remember when Rachel would get into my purse and eat my gum. I would have mixed feelings of anger and panic. The anger because she had gotten into my things, the panic because I didn't know the outcome of a toddler eating a whole pack of gum. Now I am so used to it that I hardly bat and eye. If it really takes 7 years to digest a pack of gum, my kids have a whole tummy-full of it. No wonder they never eat anything I make!

October 5th, 2010

Yesterday was karate day. 4-year-olds are so fickle. The instructor was late getting there and I told Rachel we might not have karate that day. She was so upset. Literally 10 seconds later we found out the instructor was there. I told Rachel she could do karate after all. She did a complete 180 and decided she didn't want to do karate anymore, and non of my bribes or threats could change her mind. Lilly and Rachel are in the same karate class. I usually do not watch because when I do, the girls spend all their time showing off for me. Yesterday I watched Lilly for a couple of minutes, and she was so cute! It was just her and 2 other boys. While they were practicing their punches, the boys looked so severe, but Lilly just had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Lilly finds everything very amusing. The girls are really into rhyming lately. Rachel is always asking me if words rhyme. Usually the words she uses just sound alike. For example "baby" and "Brady" is a favorite. But Lilly totally gets it. I can give her a word to rhyme and she pretty much gets it every time. She often makes up the rhyming word, but at least she gets it! Lilly is a very smart little girl.

Carson is getting old, which breaks my heart a little. He is a good little kid, but he has a stubborn streak. He likes to not eat his food if I am watching just to show me who is boss. He sits at his chair with this little pleased look on his face. If I try to feed him he just shakes his head with pursed lips and smiles. Two can play at this game though. Now I just put the food in front of him and leave. He likes to bring me things he thinks I might need, like my phone, my deodorant, little pieces of garbage. I always thank him profusely. Then he tries not to smile, puts his head down, and goes off in search for another item to please me.

October 3rd, 2010

Rachel wants to change Carson's name to Brady. She has asked me about this a couple of times. I have been assured that it is just until he is older, and then we can go back to calling him Carson. This all stems from her feelings about her cousin Brady who is older and very cool. Not only is Brady the coolest, he treats Rachel like she is his equal, which thrills both Rachel and me. Rachel also informed me tonight that she has a husband whose name is undetermined. This much is clear: he is an astronaut who is sun-proof, meaning he can touch the sun without "getting dead". He is in space right now, but will return before Rachel has a chance to truly miss him. Apparently the two of them are a crime-fighting duo that works together to destroy Rachel's nemesis, Roger (Roger by the way is the perpetual bad guy in all of Rachel's make-believe games). Rachel asks me every now and then if there are any real Rogers on the earth. I don't know exactly how to answer this. I don't want her to be afraid, but I also don't want her walking around thinking that all men named Roger are bad guys. As a joke, I think I will tell her that I am going to name our next baby Roger.

This October of ours is weird. It was in the 90's all last week. I guess this is a good thing, as my garden is still producing. At the same time, I am so tired of canning. My friend Deborah and I put up about 30 pints of peach jam today and only stopped because of a shortage of pectin and sugar. I know as soon as canning season is over I will miss it. The garden is work, but I so love walking outside to all the fresh basil I could possibly use. So no more complaining. It is October 3rd and I am still picking beautiful fresh zucchini. Before I know it winter will be here and I will be reduced to eating carrots and celery as my main vegetables.

Shelby and I spent the weekend working on our guest bedroom and bathroom. We picked out two colors for the guest bedroom. A beautiful brown for the main walls, and a deep sage color for the accent wall. At least that is what we thought. Once we put them on, the brown looked green and the sage looked like mint chocolate chip ice cream. Together the colors were a disaster. How does that happen? I suppose in another room the colors will end up looking pink and blue. Shelby says we should just break down and do a blue and orange room...

October 1st, 2010

So Rachel changed her first poopy diaper yesterday without any help. I actually did not even know this was happening until it was all done. Lilly told me Rachel changed Carson's poopy diaper, and I ignored her, hoping she was mistaken. Images of poop everywhere, and a diaperless 1-year-old peeing on my floor flashed through my head. And of course if I pretend like it didn't happen it all goes away, right?  A minute later when I saw Carson, he was indeed wearing a fresh diaper (although he still smelled ripe). Rachel had carefully placed all of the dirty diaper wipes in the diaper just like she sees me do. When I checked the thoroughness of the wiping, she had obviously missed some of the poop, but overall she did a great job. Especially for a 4-year-old, and especially considering this was one mother load of a diaper. I am so proud! I think I will turn all diaper-changing responsibilities over to her, and assign Lilly the job of supervisor. Together I think they can do this!

Yesterday was also grocery shopping day. I know I brag, but my kids are exceptionally well-behaved on these sorts of outings. They ask if we can buy just about everything they can reach, but there are very few fits, and they try their hardest to stay right with me. Lilly is a dawdler because she wants to see and touch everything, but even with this they are pretty great. However, despite all their effort to be good, grocery shopping with three small children is never going to be easy. By the time I get them all ready and loaded in the car, and then out of the car at the store, all the groceries picked out, loaded on the belt, bagged, back in my cart, back to the car where I load everything and everyone into the car, to the next store where we repeat this process, and then back home where everything and everyone is unloaded one more time, I am wiped out! Funny thing is, by next payday I am almost excited to do it again. Some people never learn.

Lilly is so sweet and so fun but she is really trying to figure out her emotions. Rachel went through the same thing when she was 3. I think it is just a hard age. They are finally realizing the world does not revolve around them, and we are not all here to fulfill their every need and want. It is a hard thing to accept. Lilly can go from sweet and happy to hysterical to laughing all in about 1 minute. Sometimes when she is crying I ask her what is wrong and she says (between sobs) "I don't know!" Truthfully, in Lilly's defense, I often cry without knowing the reason. Lilly is wonderful!

September 30, 2010

So I am off to a rocky start with this blog. I haven't written in a week. To my credit, it has been one crazy week! The 26th of every month I am owned by CCS until I get the billing done. Usually I have the help of my sister-in-law, Felicia. But she is newly pregnant and is currently using all of her extra energy to grow a baby. Between that, personal training, and Shelby's crazy work hours (not to mention our three small children) life has been mildly hectic.

But to catch up...The girls started swim lessons. They are in the same class and they love it! Carson finds it incredibly unfair that they get all the fun, and spent most of the lesson trying to figure out a way to get into the pool. He will be two in February, and is starting to act like a kid more than a baby. He still doesn't say much, but he is no dummy. He has no problem communicating his needs and getting what he wants. I am surprised at how affectionate he is. He loves to be held, and cuddled, and he gives great hugs, and he isn't super particular with who he loves on either. I think it makes people feel good.

Yesterday was Karate day, and one of those days that as a mother I felt a little off. Karate starts at 10, so it shouldn't be any huge fete to get the kids there on time, but we pretty much struggle every week. My biggest difficulty as a mother is keeping shoes on my kids' feet. We are always missing one or both shoes for either Rachel or Lilly, and sometimes I can't find shoes for either of them. And forget Carson. I NEVER put shoes on that kid. These mothers who always have shoes to match every outfit for their children make me feel slightly inadequate. The shoes were the big issue yesterday, so we went without. I figure they take them off at Karate anyway. What I didn't count on were the unexpected errands we had to run after Karate. With no time to run home, and in a slight panic, I searched through the car with my fingers crossed and...tada! Not one but two pairs of shoes, one for each kid (still not counting Carson in the need for shoes department). OK, they hadn't been worn in so long I had to squeeze their feet in, but they worked! And all of my unexpected responsibilities for the day were accomplished. Yay me!

September 23, 2010

So this is day one of the Rayl Family Blog. Let's hope it is a habit that takes. Yesterday I took the kids to the library for the first time since Carson was born. Up until now the size of my children has made it too inconvenient for a trip to the library. Rachel and Lilly are now old enough to follow basic instructions (halleluja) such as "stay close" and "don't tear the books". And Carson is still little enough he does not mind being in the stroller too much. Rachel and Lilly did not do too much book shopping, they just picked the first 4 books they found and were ready to go. Rachel LOVES books. She wants me to read to her all the time, and she doesn't care what it is I read. Lilly is growing into a love for books as well. Carson...he is still in the color-in-the-books phase. Reading to him is like reading to a puppy. They want the attention at first, but eventually they just get squirmy and want to chew on things.

Rachel and Lilly are "doing art" right now. I was just given a few pieces of their work. I thought it was because they love me, but just now Rachel brought my wallet to me and demanded payment for the art work. For the rest of the day we will be canning salsa, much to Rachel's chagrin. She likes going places, and spending the day at home isn't as exciting for her as it is for me.