Dirty (i.e. Duwty)

In Alina speak, she does not usually like to be "duwty." But really it's situational. She'll put her clothes away in the laundry basket after changing them (almost to a fault, so I am washing clothes that have only been worn for 5 minutes by our clothes-changing girl) and she'll meticulously use a napkin or three at dinner time. But occasionally she'll get into a mess of her own making, and she doesn't mind it one bit. In fact, I think she enjoys it.

On this particular day, I was on a 23 minute phone call in my room. It was important, and I couldn't be interrupted. David was lost in a book on the couch. Alina asked him to open the bucket of flour in the kitchen. He obliged (without thinking of the consequences of that sweet little request) and went back to being lost in his book. He was so lost, that he didn't notice his sister spreading flour all over the living room until he got a scoop of it dumped right next to him on the couch.

Guilty--Miss Flour Power had a really good time.

David was a little put out that his sister made such a huge mess, and really put out that he had to help clean it up. This was a lesson in "guilty by association." He didn't make the mess, but he enabled it by opening the bucket without thinking about what would happen. So he got to stick with me while we cleaned up the mess.

Meanwhile, Alina was a little busy body. While we were cleaning the flour from between the cracks in our wood floor, she climbed up on the kitchen counter, opened the cupboard and somehow this ended up on the floor below her.

The cocoa powder made me grateful for two things . . . one is that is smells so good. The other was that I didn't have this all over my living room. The flour by the cupful was much easier to clean up than a few Tablespoons of cocoa powder. Alina got to sit in the tub and wait for me while I cleaned up the chocolate.

All in a day's work, right? These kinds of things just happen. I refuse to get upset over a 2 year old mess. I would much rather laugh about it now and later.

Field Trips

One of the perks of being in some of our home school groups is the field trips different moms will organize for our children.

David got to participate in a tour of Great Harvest, where they learned about bread from seed to baked. Then they got to bake their own little "loaf" and take it home. Best part of this one was the free coupon for a loaf of bread next time we go back to their store. Yummy. I'll take a fresh loaf of holiday bread from someone else's oven.

Another field trip was organized for Papa Murphy's. The owner, Fred, was great with the kids. He kept wowing them with his pizza making skills, and all the machinery made it very exciting. He also shared a lot of facts about pizza--which were probably more impressive to the Moms than they were to the kids.

After the demonstration, Fred let each kid make their own pizza. It was such a great experience. 

Again, we received a coupon for a free pizza to pick up at a later date. Based on Fred's presentation and how he worked with the kids, I would drive across town to his location any time I need pizza. I am happy to return the favor for how well we were treated.

Thanksgiving 2015

We just had our 9th Thanksgiving in Alaska. That means we should be getting good at some of our own traditions, I suppose. But it seems that while Christmas is laden with tradition, this holiday of giving thanks is a lot more flexible by the year. In 9 Thanksgiving holidays in Alaska, we have spent the day with 5 different groups of people. One of these years, it will be my turn to  host--but this was not that year. The weather is as fickle as we are at Thanksgiving Tradition.  Last year we had sheets of ice on the roads, and carrying food up a driveway and to the door was more than a little precarious. Another year was a major snow storm where we barely made it through the streets. This year we had wet roads with fog.

We were grateful to spend time with my second cousin Lindsay Weston and her sweet family. Lindsay is a beautiful and gracious host, and we always enjoy spending time with her family.

A table for the adults, then of course the kid table. Kenny and Lindsay Weston hosted, and their brother's family was there as well--Andy and Shalee Weston. It was a good group, and we really enjoyed the company.

This was the quietest, most well mannered kids table I have ever seen. I was so impressed with the appropriate level of noise and interaction at this table, which allowed for the adults to enjoy some adult time at the grown up table.

The kids had planned a super cute skit depicting--in completely original form--the pilgrims coming over from England. It began with 4 year old Kelsey shouting "Guards! Get them!" and it only got better from there. The Weston kids saved a spot for my kids to participate, but Alina was too little and David wasn't really interested. Until he found out they needed a tech guy. So he stood at the light switch and house lights went down then up with each scene change. (It was such a good reminder to me to let David shine where and how he wants. He's not a performer on stage as much, but he was bursting with excitement over his part as the kid that controlled the lights and fan.)

Lindsay had recently taken her kids to the high school play, so they didn't miss a single beat with what should be included in a grand production. Costumes? check. Memorized lines? check. Drama? check. Fan to make it windy on a stormy night at sea? check. Lights going up and down with each scene change? check.

Over the last week, I have reminded David several times that he is the family expert on the Pilgrims. We studied them extensively last year in our history home school curriculum, and he picked up a book by Rush Limbaugh that makes the characters come to life for him. He has read that book at least a dozen times, and many of the facts presented as historical fiction are well researched. David knows the story of the pilgrims really well. But he somehow doesn't know that he knows them. Next year I'll have to remember to pull out all of our short stories about he pilgrims so our  memories are a little better refreshed.

Today

I'm going to put to rest the nagging feeling that I need to catch up on posts on this poor neglected blog. I'm just going to start with where we are at today, and eventually I'll probably do some catching up.

In 100 years, I want to remember what our Sundays are like. 

Church is stressful, with two kids on the bench while Daddy is on the stand. I have not heard the message of speakers for several weeks, probably even months. Alina is learning how to sit through the meeting and David is just being David--and doing whatever will give him a reaction from others around him. His typical social self likes to interact with all the other people around him, so while I wish I could say we were past the hurdle of turning around in the pew, we are not.  Any chance he gets, David tries to make his way to one of the walls in the chapel and he likes to hear the echo of the floor vents near the walls. That is fascinating to him, and he escapes into his own world of fascination when he hears sounds like that . . .  but unfortunately, the tapping on vents is too disruptive for others around us, so it is a strict no. That time he took his shirt off in the middle of sacrament meeting? That was a reason to leave, but just for a minute while he redressed himself, then we returned to our bench. The other antics are typical rowdy boy, and we are working hard as mother and son to unravel the cyclical behavior of be naughty, get attention for it during this time of the week that is supposed to be so quiet. The poor people that sit around us might have a few other ideas about how frequently I should leave with my children from the meeting. But I believe that learning to sit through church can only be practiced by being in the meeting, so we do our best and pray for the grace of others that we may affect. We are really trying to build a relationship that inspires good behavior. Not many "things" matter to our boy. We can take away toys, outings, and privileges until we are blue in the face. So I am working on building a relationship with him where he recognizes my love for him and his love for me, and somehow this inspires him to please us as his parents. It might take years to get where we want to go with this relationship based behavior, but it feels like it is the right thing for us right now to fill up his bucket a little more, and put less strain on mine.

While Sunday at church can be very stressful, Sunday mornings before church are my favorite time of the week. We have very specific activities that are set aside for our Sunday worship. Over the last few months, The First Presidency has asked us to increase the spirituality of our Sabbath observance. So it has given me pause to reflect on how we spend our time on the Sabbath, and where we could improve.

On Sunday mornings, we begin by watching Music and the Spoken Word while we eat breakfast. (With the 2-hour time difference from Mountain time, it comes on just as the kids are usually getting out of bed.) Both of the kids love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Music, as well as the images they show during the songs. I really enjoy the messages, and the narrator, Lloyd Newell, was my professor at BYU fifteen years ago, in my last semester before graduating so that makes it especially fun to hear his wisdom week after week.

After breakfast and baths, the Scripture Story Box comes out and the kids each select a bag with felt pieces to tell one of the scripture stories. They love using our large flannel board to lay out all of the pieces. Even Alina likes to add her jibber jabber as she lays out the pieces, as if she is telling the story. She has a good example in her brother of trying his best to say the words just right as each piece is laid on the board. This box is closely monitored by me, so they know it is something special to get into it. I hope that my children always have the stories of scripture heroes written in their hearts, and this is one of the ways I try to emphasize that.

Besides the scripture story box, we have a large chest next to our piano that is reserved for Sunday activities. The kids can find copies of the Friend magazine, or coloring pages, or books that teach about the prophets in the big box. We try our best to reserve all of these things for Sunday, but if they come out on a different day we just go with it, as long as everyone puts things back in their place.

We have late church, 1-4 pm right now, so by the time we get home it's a mad rush to get dinner on. Daddy usually walks in from his church meetings just as we are finishing the dinner preparations, so we eat together. After dinner, we try to get the kids in their pajamas and we each choose a song to sing around the piano. Our family loves music, so this gives us a chance to become better acquainted with both the hymns and the primary songs in our home. Sometime we have a dessert after singing time, which is generally used to "encourage" (ahem, bribe) good participation during our singing time.

Because of his long day of meetings,  Daddy often goes to bed at the same time as the kids on Sunday nights. Although we have the typical stressors of getting out the door to church--no matter how carefully we lay out shoes and socks the night before, something goes missing or church clothes get dirty just as we are supposed to leave--I have to say that Sundays are some of my favorite days.

Age 6

How do I describe my David at age 6?

He is turning into a very capable worker. He can see the end from the beginning on certain household chores such as picking up the living room, and does it without much coaching from Mom. 

Note: Prodding and coaching are two different things here.

When I told him the other day that his math book finally arrived for our homeschool lessons, so we would begin working in it the following day, he dropped what he was doing and nearly tackled me in a hug. David loves to learn, and I am grateful for his enthusiasm.

He continues to enjoy taking things apart, but has a little more discretion in asking permission first.

David collected scrap metal this summer and was thrilled to take his first load to the scrap metal yard and walk away with $12.53. He felt like the richest kid in the world. 

He is finally finding a creative streak in drawing. One of our classes with other homeschool families introduced David to abstract art, so he is finally trying his hand at coloring and art. I think he's a bit of a perfectionist, and didn't try it previously because he didn't feel like he was good enough at it. Abstract art has opened a new place to express himself without feeling inadequate in copying another object onto his paper.

David continues to excel at the piano. He loves scales, and I love having a teacher that pushes him into learning theory. The other day the piano teacher (who is very much creative-minded and doesn't always retain information she has previously been given multiple times) learned (for the 12th time) that David isn't 7 yet. She said, "You little rascal! How did you sneak in? I don't teach kids till they turn 7. You're my youngest student. Gee, you're going to be a hotshot by the time you're 12." Then she gave him some harder scales to work on so her compliment wouldn't go to his head.

David is still very cuddly. He loves to be affectionate. I am trying to hang on to it and push him to learn appropriate physical boundaries all at the same time. He loves to tease and torment his sister, but they are also best buds some of the time. When I think of everything this boy has taught me, and how he inspires me to be better, my  heart nearly bursts and I am grateful to my Father in Heaven that I get to be his mother.

Age 2

This month we celebrated a little girl turning 2 at our house. Oh, she is sweet and has captured our hearts.

How can I best describe Alina at 2?

She asks for 3 napkins at dinner time, then lets her brother bury her in the muddy leaves outside.

She can throw a ball across the room, zoom a truck with all the appropriate noises, then cradles her baby doll, singing to her before she gently lays her on a pillow and covers her with a blanket.

She picks up a book and quietly reads it, then decides she likes it so much that she "hugs" it hard enough to break the binding.

She loves to color.

She has the sweetest belly laugh, and David is best at bringing it out.

David is also best at bringing out her squeals of protest.

She reserves her smiles and affection for those she loves most. A little reserved in public, but once she's at home, she is as outgoing and playful as a little girl can be.

She mimicks everything her brother does. 

She loves to roll down her window and say hi to the driver next to us, just like her brother does.

She's happy to go to her nursery class at church, but then her excitement at being reunited with her loved ones is joyous and sweet.

She eats anything that is put in front of her. In recent weeks, she has decided she's done with her high chair. This is an adjustment for us, because now she has the liberty to get off her chair and wander through the house with her snack (a big no-no in Mom's book).

Her language is quite amazing. She speaks mostly in vowel sounds, but I can usually figure it out given some context. She has started putting together sentences with her vowel-words. If I can't understand something, she patiently repeats it or tries to act it out.

"Nina" is the name she has given herself, and it's a nickname we use for her because it's too cute and we want it to stick.

"Nina" is also how she says "cleanup"--which is something she likes to do often. 

So "Nina nina" is "Alina cleanup" while she gets a towel and wipes up a spill on the table or floor.

She loves to say "YAY!!" in celebration, especially when she is cheering herself on for a good choice or deed. She used to say "aye" for yes, but it has now morphed in to "yeah".

Oh, how we love this Alina girl!

Davidisms--August 2015

Just a few quotes to share this time. In the picture above, he was happy to show me the structure he built out of his cheese at lunch time. 

• One morning I awoke to David polishing off a plate of brownies that had been given to us by a neighbor the night before. I called for him to stop, and wondered to myself what our day was going to be like after starting out with a plate full of sugary chocolate. David was not pleased that I put a moratorium on his brownie consumption. He quickly shot back, "MOM! Have you cheered up the sad or made someone feel glad today? You have NOT! You have failed indeed!!!!" With that, he stomped down the hallway to go get his morning bath.

• David briefly flirted with being interested in pirates. I can't say it evolved into a real love--but something he definitely noticed was that pirates have gold teeth. David was in conversation with a 60-something man when David looked up intently, mid-sentence, and said, "Do you have GOLD in your teeth?!?!" (Just think of David's view of the man's mouth when they are both standing.) The man awkwardly tried to ignore it, and tried to keep the conversation going. David continued, "Mom, come look! He has GOLD teeth!!!" He then proceeded to ask the older gentleman how he was so lucky to have gold in his teeth. I finally convinced David to drop the conversation and move on. A couple of weeks later we were on our way to the dentist when David said, "I'm going to ask the Dentist if he can give me some gold teeth. If he says no, then I'm going to tell him that I'll just have to find another dentist."

• A few buzzwords that sneak in to every description David gives as he tells you about the world around him: motor, sensor, gear,