31 for 21

Well, this is the end of the road for 31 for 21. I don't know if what I had to say this month had any effect on anyone, but it was fun to post every day. Back that up. I didn't post every day, but I did end up with more the 31 posts for the month. That counts doesn't it? I don't have a child with Down's Syndrome, but by sister has 2. I have learned so much about DS as I have tried (I hope) to help her. When William was born, we were all so shocked. Here they were first baby, my sister was only 23. It just wasn't something anyone expected. But they moved forward and the rest of us tried our best to help and support. He is a crazy boy, that Buck! We love him and my kids don't know that he is different. To them, he is William. When Mary was born, there were so many other complications with Kimberly, that I think the fact that Mary had DS wasn't really... I don't know. The other things seemed bigger then that, at least in my eyes. In the days following her birth, I searched for ways to help them. Things were different now, 2 kids was DS was so much bigger. I looked for support groups and blogs, anything that would offer support. We are a very close family, but this wasn't something that we could help with, not enough anyway. You always hear that having a child with DS is such a gift, but I don't think that's what they wanted to hear at the time. They knew that, but having 2 just makes everything different. How was it going to effect Ruth? She won't ever know the difference and will be better for it. Kids are kids, they just need to be loved and taken care of. I feel connected to people, that I don't even know, when I see they have a child with DS. I talk to them, not something I would have done before, and tell them about my sweet nephew and niece. They have been blessed with health and very few, what appear to be, minor complications. They have been a gift to our family and we have all been blessed because of them. I wish that we all lived closer, so that the cousins could play together. Aside from G&B, none of us live near cousins. Growing up we didn't either, but we weren't as close in age as all of our kids are. Once we started having babies, we went a little crazy! lol! The oldest is 5 1/2, the youngest is 2 months today and there are (I have to stop and think about this) 9 in between them! They love to play together, although they haven't been all together for over a year now. Hopefully blogging will keep us involved in each others lives. Knowing the in's and out's of each others days, offering words of encouragement and support when needed. That is what 31 for 21 has been for me.

Happy Halloween!

The kids were soooo very excited for today. Poor Max had to have shots, but he seemed to get over it pretty quick. Evelyn was in rollers all day, but didn't seem to mind. We even ran errands with them in. By this evening though, she said she wanted them out because her head was itchy. lol! They all looked so cute in their costumes. Sam kept saying he was Dumbo the Elephant. I should have sewn a feather onto the trunk of his costume.

Happy Halloween
2008

Transformation...

Just wanted to share with you the before and after pictures of Evelyn. She had rollers in her hair for almost 24 hours! lol!

Don't you just love the fro!

New Hair-Do...

So... I think I am ready for a new do. I am putting it out there for your opinion. What do you think I should do? I have been the same for more then a year, which for me, is nothing short of a miracle. I need color too. Do you have a favorite shade?

My Birthday...

I thought I would share the pages that I did from my birthday.

Photo Tag

I was on Erin's blog earlier and saw that she had been photo tagged and was hoping someone would tag me. lol! I thought it sounded like a fun one. I am supposed to go to my 4th folder and post the 4th picture.

This was taken last summer. Rick had just put training wheels on her bike.

So now I tag Mom, Kimberly, Ashley, Stacy, Brittani and Tami.

About Me (Whether You Wanted to Know or Not)

I've been tagged. This is a first for me, so here goes. The six things you might not know or want to know about me...

1. I can't stand when people clip their nails during Sacrament Meeting. There is always SOMEONE in every ward that does it. Ah, hello, couldn't you do that at home, IN THE BATHROOM before coming!? Yuck!

2. Smarmy people. You know the type that always have something to "sell" you. Someone of this nature came to my door yesterday morning. Seriously, they make my skin crawl.

3. Things that can be ate in pieces (say chips for instance), I have to eat the small ones first. I always save the big ones for last. (My brother does this too, so it must be genetic.) Things have to be even too. Take M&M's, if there are 3 brown, 4 reds and 2 yellows, I have to eat 1 brown and 2 reds before I will eat any of the yellows. Are you following me on this?

4. I have a weird thing with sharks. They freak me out! Not like I have ever seen one or anything. Ok, this is totally irrational and I realize that, but when I was younger and we would have swim practice early in the morning, swimming past the deep end of the pool when it still had the cover on gave me the creeps. Like there was something in there watching me. I KNOW there wasn't a shark in there, but it was a thing I had. Maybe I am reveling too much about myself. That I am actually a little (ok, a lot!) on the disturbed side... lol!

5. I can't stand yucky ears. Like my sil, I like the feeling of the q-tip in my ear. Maybe it was time in the barber shop cutting old man hair, but ears are gross. As I type this and think about it, it gives me the willies! Yesterday morning Max had a HUGE chunk of ear wax in his ear- YUCK! I am constantly checking my and my kids ears for anything that should not be there!

6. When I was young (like jr. high young) I wanted to be a fashion designer. Not that you could tell to look at me now! lol! I remember drawing outfits that were FABULOUS! lol! Probably something along the lines of Jem and the Hollograms. You know you have watched that! lol!

Ok, so now it's your turn... Erin, Jenn, Tami, Carolee, Ashley, Rachel

Road Warriors Return...

I haven't had a chance to talk to Rick yet, but in talking to Sam, this is what I gathered from their adventure-

Dad and Grandpa snored and he kept telling them to stop.

He went up Curly Mountain in the Rhino.

From the look of him when he got home, I'm not sure if he ate anything but sand and Oreo's! The first thing we did was give him a bath. When Evelyn went to get in the shower, she wanted to know what we all over the tub. It was sand from Sam. lol! He is now happily playing cars in his room.

Girls Night In...

This evening the boys (Rick, Sam and Grandpa) headed off into the wild blue yonder (the dunes) and Evelyn, Max and I had a "Girls Night In". Sorry Max, someday you'll get to go and won't have to send the evening inhaling nail polish fumes. lol! We made cookies and then Evelyn had a mani/pedi. We added jewels to her nails in anticipation of Halloween. Now that Max is down, we are going to turn on An American In Paris and have a slumber party in mom's big bed. We finished our first (what I like to call) big girl book tonight, Ramona and Beezus. Next she wants to read Little Women. I hope that she likes it, it is one of my favorites. I can't wait to read Anne with her! Girl stuff is fun... lol!

Retraction...

So I know I said I thought Max's second molar was up... I was wrong! He is back to his lovely (cough, cough) teething self. Last night wasn't pretty. He even woke Evelyn up. He did one of his usual wake up and think he has just taken a nap around 11:30. We put him back down at midnight and he was up again @ 3:15. I gave him more medicine then, but he was screaming an hour later. That's when he woke up Evelyn. He didn't want Rick (there's a shock). I tried to sit and rock with him, but we ended up back in my bed. I can hear my mother cringe at the thought of a child in our bed, sorry mom! lol! He was up and down a little more, but once we got up this morning he was fine. Of course. I really hope he will take a good nap for me this afternoon.

It's A Lovely Thing...

Back up the bus... I started this post 2 days ago and have been having internet problems. So I am going to try again...

Tonight for dinner I made a fabulous pizza that I thought I would share with you all. I didn't think about blogging it until I was already into the process, so I didn't get pictures of it right at the beginning. Here goes...

First, I ground my wheat (Hee, hee! Just thought I would share that), so that I could make the dough. Here is the dough recipe that I use. I got it at an Enrichment Night years ago and love it.

1 c. warm water
1T. yeast
1 t. sugar
Combine and let it do its thing while you get everything else ready.

1 c. wheat flour
1c. white flour
1 T. oil
1 t. salt

Combine and add about 1/2 c. more flour to make a nice soft dough. Roll out, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt (thank you Best Bites for that tip) and pre-bake crust @ 400 for 10 minutes. Add toppings and bake 12 more.After pre-baking the crust, I topped it with this, then some mozzarella cheese. Now for the loveliness...

Shrimp
Artichoke hearts
Pesto
fresh tomatoes, chopped
lemon juice

I didn't think to take a picture of the shrimp while I was cutting it, so here is one when it has already been marinating.
I cut the shrimp in half length wise so that it would cook faster. Anyway, mix the above and let marinate while you are getting your dough together. My artichoke hearts where the marinated type. I rinsed them, so they wouldn't be so oily. I think I used about a tablespoon of lemon juice, don't know about the pesto. It was some that I got from Costco (very tasty, highly recommend) that I had frozen in small amounts. You will need to kind of let this mix drain a little through your hands before putting in on your crust, otherwise things will be too soggy.
I added a little more cheese just to hold everything together and then back in the oven it went for 12 more minutes. It was REALLY tasty! I shared a piece with my neighbor and she enjoyed, hope you will too.

Teething Update...

Well I think Max has cut his second molar. I could feel it a little last night, I haven't checked today. He is sort of tired of me sticking my finger in his mouth, go figure! So for any of you keeping track, that is his 7th (yes, I said 7th) tooth in 2 months! To my surprise, the molars haven't seemed to bother him as much as all the others. Maybe he's just numb to the pain now!

Sleeping Children...

It isn't very often that Sam wakes up in the night, but he did last night. It was about 10:45, I was just about to go to sleep and Rick was on his way home. I don't know if he had had a bad dream, but I asked him if he wanted me to lay by him and he said yes. He loves to have has dad lay by him to go to sleep, it isn't very often that he wants me to. I turned out my light and went into their room. I think he was already back to sleep, but I laid there anyway. It was nice to just watch him sleep. To know that he knew he was safe, because I was there.

"Every human being is a spirit child of God and lived with Heavenly
Father before coming to earth. He entrusts his spirit children to earthly
parents who provide a mortal body for them through the miracle of physical
birth and gives to parents the sacred opportunity and responsibility to
love, protect, teach, and to bring them up in light and truth so they may
one day, through the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, return to
our Father's presence.

"These precious souls come to us in purity and innocence. As parents, we assume
an immense responsibility for their care and well-being. Parents share this sacred
trust with brothers and sisters, grandparents, teachers, neighbors, and all who
touch the lives and impress or influence the souls of these precious children.
King Benjamin admonished parents many years ago, 'But ye will teach them to walk
in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to
serve one another.' (Mosiah 4:15.)"

M. Russell Ballard, "Teach the Children," Ensign, May 1991

Autumn Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

I was at a loss of what to post today and then remembered I hadn't given the recipe for the cookies I posted last week with the stew. So here goes. I got this recipe from the Gooseberry Patch Old Fashioned Country Cookies cookbook. That's a mouth full...

1 1/2 c. margarine or butter
1 c. sugar
2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. oatmeal (it calls for quick, but I used regular)
1 3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until fluffy. Sift dry ingredients (with exception of oatmeal) and add alternately with the pumpkin. Stir in chocolate chips and oatmeal Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. This makes a very LARGE batch of cookies... 10 dozen.

Thought...

" 'Life is good, if we live in such a way to make it so.' . . 'A good life' comes as a result of the way we
do things, of the words we choose to say, and even of the kind of thoughts we choose to have. . .
". . . 'Wanting to' is the determining factor which leads us to lay hold upon the word of God and be
happy. Perseverance in making correct decisions is what leads us to happiness."

Benjamín de Hoyos, "True Happiness: A Conscious Decision," Ensign, Nov. 2005

Thirsty Anyone?

This morning I was emptying the dishwasher while Evelyn was doing her math. She had finished her first page and needed me to read some story problems to her, so I went and sat next to her up to the counter. As we are doing the problems, I hear a weird noise from over by the dishwasher. Max had been "helping" me with the dishwasher, I round the corner and this is what I find.

Camping Trip...

Here are the pages I did from our recent camping trip. (I don't know if I should call overnight a trip). Thank goodness we didn't go any longer or I would have to do a whole book! lol!

The Things We Miss While We Sleep...

All of my children have had sleep issues @ one point or another. Back that up, Evelyn and Max... Sam has always been a good sleeper. Lately Max has taken a page from his dad's book and wants to be up at odd hours of the night. Usually he does this when he is teething. He had been having a good stretch, but he has 2 molers working on it. He had a good nap yesterday, so he stayed up a little later and I put him down @ 9. He didn't complain, he will sit in there and play. We didn't hear him until 1:15. Sometimes he just needs a cuddle and a binky. Rick went in, but that didn't work. I got up a few minutes later to try, but he stopped crying, so I went back to bed. You all know what happened as soon as I laid down, he started crying again. I got up, he stopped, so I went to the bathroom and got a drink, then he started again. When I went in, he was standing up in his crib and I could tell it was going to be one of those funny nights- were he thinks he has just had a nap and wants to play. I got him a drink, he seemed to be really thirsty and then we went to the living room. He seemed fine to sit on my lap and cuddle for awhile and then he wanted down. This whole time, I have tried not to talk to him, no extra stimulation. I went and laid on the floor and he came over with his water bottle in his hand. (He has started to do this funny crawl where he scoots on his bum.) He pulled himself up to stand next to me and then bent down to get his water bottle, still holding on to me, but couldn't quite do it. So he let go, picked up the water bottle and stood up! He stood there for a few seconds and then landed on his bum. Just think, if I had been sleeping I would have missed it! Although, he should have been sleeping too. Next time you decided to introduce a new trick Max, could you do it during regular business hours?

Beef Stew

I made some really yummy stew on Saturday afternoon. In fact Rick said it was the best stew he had ever had. Yippee! I don't think I had actually ever made stew before, but it was cold and rainy/slushing and I thought it was a perfect day for it. I found the recipe here- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-Stew-VI/Detail.aspx

I thought I would type it out anyway, just to make it easier. I did use some of the reader suggestions, so I will type it how I made it. The things in italics are the changes, either mine or the reader suggestions.

• 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat (I didn't have quite this much)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 3 big cloves garlic, sliced or coarsely minced
  
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (I used about a T. of fresh rosemary, chopped)
  
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (I forgot this)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 5, they were on the small side)
  
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used baby carrots, just eye balled the amount)
  
• 4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used 5)
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 T. Ketchup
• 1 T. A-1
• 1 T. Worcestershire
  
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook beef in oil over medium heat until brown. (Before browning the meat, mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in bag and toss the meat to coat.) I also cooked my garlic just slightly before adding my meat. Dissolve bouillon in water and pour into pot. Stir in rosemary, parsley and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.
2. Stir potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into the pot. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold water and stir into stew. Cover and simmer 1 hour more.
3. Once my meat was browned I added my liquid and then added things in stages as I prepped them. My meat didn't need 2 hours to get tender. I don't think mine cooked much over an hour and 15 minutes. I thickened mine at the end, once all the veggies were cooked. If you don't like your gravy as thick, the flour thickens it just enough that the cornstarch might not be needed.

A little nod to Rachael Ray with the GB.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
recipe to follow....

Progress... I think

Yesterday morning was rough. I mean really bad. He just kept pooping in his undies. I kept taking him, but it just wasn't working. I was ready to give up. *Sigh* Then in the afternoon, probably because he was done pooping, he started telling me that he had to go. He has never done that before. So I thought maybe all wasn't lost. I put him in a diaper for bed last night, the pull ups just weren't cutting it. This morning was a little haired, we had a soccer game at 9 and were running late. He had been up for awhile, I had even showered, and I told him to come in and go. I figured that his diaper was wet, so I hadn't bugged him about it. He came in to go, reluctantly, but peeped a bunch and off he went. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I discovered that his diaper was dry!!!! Yeah! So off we went to soccer. It was cold and poor Max had to get pulled from the warmth of his bed to leave. We didn't realize how cold it was and weren't exactly prepared. Rick took his jacket off to wrap around Max. Evelyn was layered, but her hands were freezing. She doesn't do real well when she is cold. Sam did ok. Max and I finally headed to the truck to warm up. He was just too cold. A while later, I see Rick and the kids coming, but no stroller. They warmed up for a minute and then Sam gave his jacket to his sister to wear so that Rick could have his jacket back. The boys and I stayed in the warm truck. Back to the potty business... I kept asking him how he was doing, he was in undies. I think it was around 8:30 when he used the potty this morning. He kept saying he was fine, there was no poop or pee. Gulp... So the game finished up and I decided to brave running to the store. I had been the night before, but had forgot a couple of things. So off we went. He still said he was fine. Gulp... We made it home, dry, and he went as soon as we came in the house. Yeah!! So I feel that we have made some progress. He still hasn't pooped today, that seems to be our down fall. Hopefully (I am keeping my fingers crossed) things will go better today. He keeps telling me he won't poop and pee in his undies, I really want to believe him...

Day #2 and I do mean #2...

So... today didn't go as well as yesterday. Today poop was involved. He had an accident this morning, totally expected, I just wish it would have an impact on him. He didn't come tell me, I went to get him to use the potty and found the mess. Day went on, he was laying on the living room floor and peed. Didn't seem to care... This afternoon had a small pee accident and start of a poo, but we got to the bathroom before any major damage was done. I made him sit until he pooped. It wasn't a pretty 30 minutes, but he finally did it. I read him a story and went to get another one and that's when he did it. Yeah! We called Rick at work and I got him his cars and treats and turned on a movie. I am hoping now that he has done it once, he wouldn't be so freaked out to do it again. I am happy to report there have been no more accidents. He even went outside for awhile and played. I called him in once, he tried, but couldn't go. When he came in, he went and even pooped a little more. More cars, more treats and a call to dad. So even though the day didn't start out pretty, I feel we are ending on a good note. Side note... this afternoon, I thought he had one more pair of undies. He didn't. So on went his sisters panties. They were blue, but dad didn't like that idea and will be stopping to buy more undies after work. lol!

Darn...

I was doing so good with 31 for 21, until yesterday. I did realize late last night that I hadn't blogged, but I was too tired to get out of bed. There have been a few days were I have posted twice, so I am hoping that will make up for yesterday.

I thought I would share our Potty Training progress. I feel like yesterday was a success. He had an accident right off the bat, but then did great the rest of the day. He did have a little one in the afternoon, but no big deal. I set the timer every 30 minutes, sometimes he would go, other times not. Evelyn even got in on the act. When ever the timer would go off, she would say, "Potty time!" I printed out a chart to put stickers on (thank you Kimberly) so that he could earn cars that way. He didn't poop yesterday, I am sure that is going to be a battle. I did get him to tell me that he thinks it is going to hurt to poop on the potty. I assured him that his bum won't hurt if he goes on the potty, only when he goes in his diaper (and it sits there for hours!). I did put him in a pull up for bedtime. He has gotten up dry before, but I don't want to press my luck. I told him as soon as he woke up to come in and tell me and we would go potty. He wanted to tell his dad... fine just tell someone! I don't know what time he got up, we weren't up yet. The hall light was on and Rick asked who I thought it was. He went and checked and Sam was in on the potty. Yeah! His pull up was soaked, but he did it himself. He said he would try again after breakfast, he did and he went. So I think we are making progress... Stay tuned.

Handbag Planet

I just found a site (on my sil's sil's blog) where you could win a free bag. Looks cool, check it out!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

I've Done It....

Now lets hope I can continue to do it and that he can do it. I know he can... Lets back up here. Sam is 3 1/2 and not potty trained. For any of you that have changed 3 1/2 year old poop, it isn't fun. Frankly, I'm tired of it. Nothing motivates him, not even chocolate. Evelyn, on the other had, was saying, "I NEED chocit!" at an early age. He simply doesn't care if he sits in his own waste for hours on end. I don't think to change him as often as his brother and he doesn't think to tell me that he is poopy. So today before lunch when I was changing him (one of 3 poopy diapers today) I told him that when the diapers where gone I wasn't getting any more. I've had enough. I really talked it up and told him how big of a boy he is and that he could do it. When we first tried to do this, we told him that once he didn't wear diapers anymore, that we could go to the store and get Mac (from the movie Cars). He liked that idea, went once and thought that was it. lol! No, no, we said you have to go all the time and wear undies. That motivation didn't last. He would talk about it from time to time, but not do anything about it. He will finally go and sit on the potty, that's something that has really only been happening for the last couple of months. Before that, he wouldn't go near it. He acted deathly afraid of it. I know you can't push it, but I know that he gets it now. It goes back to the whole he just doesn't care. Rick finally broke down and went and bought a bunch of Match Box cars, it seemed to be the only motivator. He would get 1 if he told us he had to go and went in and actually did it. He would have 2 if he pooped. Even though he LOVES cars, even that motivator was hit and miss. That's why I have decided that he needs a push. I might be pulling my hair out by the end of the week, but here goes. I really need to clean my carpets, but I think I should probably hold off...

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight for FHE we took the kids to dinner and then to the Pumpkin Patch. They were so excited to pick there own. Evelyn had big plans to find a small one for Max. She picked a little white one for him. As we were walking around, I was thinking about being there last year. Max was just tiny. Evelyn and Sam have both really grown up a lot this year, and I do me up. Standing in the field I could see how much taller they were. lol! I will post some pictures tomorrow. They will defiantly be made into a couple of pages.

General Conference....

Wasn't it great? I think for me it all started with the General Relief Society Meeting. I felt like Pres. Uchtdorf was talking just to me. Did any of you feel that way? I am just so grateful that we live in an age where we have the resorted gospel on the earth again and are blessed with a modern day Prophet. Isn't it wonderful to hear from him? I am already excited to get next months Ensign.

Thought...

"In true marriage there must be a union of minds as well as of hearts. Emotions must not wholly determine decisions, but the mind and the heart, strengthened by fasting and prayer and serious consideration, will give one a maximum chance of marital happiness."

Spencer W. Kimball, "The Importance of Celestial Marriage," Ensign, Oct. 1979

1st Soccer Game

Here is the page from Evelyn's first soccer game.

A Lesson & A Thought

Have you ever wondered if your kids really like each other? Some days with all the fighting and whining, it has crossed my mind. Today, they showed me that they don't just like each other, they love each other. Max was napping, Sam was in quiet time, Evelyn and I were watching the 2nd session of General Conference. All of a sudden there was a crash from Sam and Evelyn's room. I go in to find Sam underneath the dresser. Half of him anyway. I pick up the dresser and Evelyn comes running in to see what the matter is. When she sees her brother under the dresser, she falls on him in a huge embrace. The compassion was overwhelmingly there, but in true Evelyn fashion, there was a little drama too. It touched me to see how concerned she was for him. I'm sure you are wondering why I would be so touched by this. She should be concerned. There was another instance not too long ago where he got hurt. She came to see what the matter was. Thinking I would get the kind of reaction I got from today's events, instead she says, "I am so frustrated! I can't hear my show with him crying!" The t.v. was turned off immediately... drama, drama. Back to Sam, he was fine, just a bloody lip. When he had finally calmed down enough to tell me what had happened, he said he was opening all the drawers (why, I don't know) and the dresser fell over. Unfortunately this has happened before, to Evelyn. You'd think we would have got rid of the darn thing after the first time. It will be gone tomorrow, I promise. I have also wondered if my kids ever really listen to the things we try and teach them. Not the every day things, but the other things. After Conference was over, again they proved they can and do listen. Instead of playing with toys or looking at books, they started playing Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. They had blankets over their heads and where calling each other by name. At first Max was Joseph and Sam was baby Jesus. I didn't realize this until Sam starting crawling down the hall. I asked Evelyn if he was a dog now and she said, "No he's a baby, he's crawling." Why the baby that crawls already at our house couldn't fill that roll, I don't know. The boys eventually switched rolls, not that Max knew he was a party to any of it, and on they went. I leave you with this thought...

"Children are open to gospel truths more than at any other time, and protected childhood is
literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach and strengthen children to choose the right.

"It's easy to know what to teach. The scriptures and our prophets are clear about what to
teach our children. Nephi summarizes it in this verse, 'And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ,
we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ . . . that our children may know to what source they
may look for a remission of their sins' (2 Nephi 25:26).

"Knowing that we teach of Christ and His gospel, how do we do it? Begin by following the counsel
of our prophets and making time in our homes for family prayer, scripture study, and family
home evening. Have we heard that counsel so often that it seems too simple? Or are we so busy
that adding one more thing feels too complex? I testify that even when our family worship seems
less than effective, obedience alone invites the blessings of the Lord."

Margaret S. Lifferth, "Behold Your Little Ones," Ensign, Nov. 2006

Sam Sam the Man Man

For those of you that know Sam, he is a reserved sort of fellow. He is getting better though and lately at home, he has become quite the character. He makes the funniest faces and talks in the silliest voices. I just wanted to share my latest page of him... Please tell me you can all name the movie!

Zoo Day

A few weeks ago we had our first school field trip. It was to the zoo. The day was beautiful and everyone seemed to have a great time.

#3

What is the deal with your children only being good for other people? Max is being especially Crazy right now. When I went to the dentist yesterday, the kids went to the neighbors. He had had a horrible night and I was so hoping he wouldn't be a total beast for her. She said he was fine. I am beginning to think she was lying! lol! Or maybe it's just me that brings out the best in him. He seemed fine when I got there and we even hung out for awhile and visited, no problems. The moment we walked in the house, the beast was back. Last night for Enrichment Night, it was a combined adult dinner and the Stake President and his wife spoke. Rick was holding Max at dinner and he kept reaching for Rick's glass of water. Finally I said, "Dude, no!" You should have seen the lip on his face. He could have tripped over it! It was actually pretty funny. Then the tears started. I had hurt his feelings in a big way. He doesn't like to be told no. All I can say to that is,... get use to it. He cries and screams and then all he wants is me. I want him to want someone else. I would like to walk out of a room, without him crying like I've ripped a limb off. I think this teething thing has just thrown him for a loop! Like right now, he is screaming from the other room. I know as soon as I pick him up he will fight and squirm in my arms to be put down. It's a no win with him right now. I know this will pass, but boy does it seem along way off right now...

1st Post of 31 for 21

My sister passed along the challenge of 31 for 21 to raise awareness for Downs Syndrome. So here is my first post...

Today I got to check something off of my list of To-Do's for the year. I went to the dentist. It has been more years then I want to say since going last. I am happy to report that I got a clean bill of teeth! Yeah! I am going to go back to have them whitened. I haven't decided if I am going to do the take home trays or the in-office thing. I am such a gagger (e-xrays weren't pretty!), that I don't know if I could sit there for a half an hour with that contraption holding my mouth open without hurling. Have any of you had it done before? What's it like?