Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Short stories.
* On Monday we had to go to the doctor's office. We picked up Kyla after her time at Kindergarten and so we had the three youngest with us. My kids are generally very well behaved. And I'm not just saying that. Many people tell me so. So in the waiting room they play with the available toys or sit by us and talk. Chase was over in the toy section (it's a cool doc waiting area) and Kyla had wandered over to sit with us. As she sat there a lady was called back to the doctor office. She was a very large lady. I noticed Kyla notice the large lady immediately. The dreaded question looming in the air, she didn't wait to ask until the lady was back in the office area, she had to ask just as the lady walked by, "Why is that lady so FAT???" O My Gosh...I tried to sink into my chair and ignore this unknown, little girl sitting next to me...! Until the lady was long gone. I told her saying things like that when they can hear you could hurt their feelings so we need to make sure people can't hear us when we ask things like that. LOL Well, amazingly enough...my message got through. Because while it was our turn in the doc office the lady walked past our door and I saw Kyla look at her. Look at me. And not say anything. I said, "Good job Kyla." And she just smiled.

* Same doctor visit - I kid you not. Chase takes his turn. We were done with the appointment and were headed to the elevators to head down. Chase always likes to rush into the elevator no matter how many times I remind him that we need to wait for others to exit until we go in. DING Elevator arrives. I gently remind Chase - to no avail. He is happily skip/running to the door as it's opening. And FREEZES. An older woman and man walk out of the elevator. The man is wearing an eye-patch (can you see where this is going...?) Chase, frozen in his attempt to enter, automatically sings out....."A Pirraaate!" as loud as he could - in a singing voice and everything. Watches the man walk away and leaps into the elevator. I had to hold my breath until the elevator doors were closed and laughed so hard I almost cried. It still makes me giggle just thinking about it!

Kids say the darnedest things!!! LOL

New Blog

No - I have not forgotten about this blog. I have been quite distracted however with my other blog I just started. http://sisterslivingwaters.blogspot.com/ It's a journal of my scripture study. My sister and I are doing it together (except so far I'm the only one who's posted anything...) Check it out. I think it's pretty cool and has become my motivation to read my scriptures - which I desparately needed! :) Post about the first day of school coming later.....

I Am Awesome

Totally stealing this post idea from my cousin - who stole it from her SIL. I don't write as well as she does but I think I can get the basic idea down. She wrote about appriciating yourself and realizing that you are great to be you and you don't have to be "superwoman-mom" like everyone else seems to be. My cousin is going to be running a half marathon in November. I know it sure seems to be the trend right now. She has a background of running - but this post is about me. I have started to run. Not out of trend. Out of not having any other way to get exercise that is "cheap". Now - if you ask the hubs he would say running isn't cheap. My shoes were $130. I know that's no cheap pair of shoes, but if I had a gym membership (that I would rarely use) it would be a whole lot more than that. Plus, I hate running. I dread going. I dread it while I'm doing it. It's everything in me to keep going for as far as the goal is. Which I have to set pretty high (haha...like 3 miles is the tops for me!) because once I set the goal I can NOT go past it. Something in my brain screeches on the brakes as soon as I hit that lamp post up ahead. :)
Anyway....not a post about running either...I just don't do it for a trend. Unless the trend is to be skinny. Then that is the goal! And that is pretty much the only reason for me doing it. Well and I can tell a HUGE difference in my mental clarity. Even though I hate doing it, I feel happier about myself when I'm done.
Point is: I am an awesome person to be. I can't compare myself or my children to anyone else. Because we all live under different circumstances. Which makes us all different. And thank heaven for it or this life and world would be oh so boring!
I need to remind myself of this very fact more often. To prove it to myself I will remind myself of all the things I am good at. And I think it's safe to say looking at your weaknesses is healthy to help you make goals of becoming even more awesome.

Things I am pretty darn good at:
playing the piano
teaching myself how to play the piano
I like to think I am good at teaching others how to play the piano
singing - and I LOVE to sing!
baking
coordinating events - Ex: weddings/parties/get togethers
reading
multi-tasking
being happy - there really is no point in being a downer. it's just lame.
being optimistic
feeling the spirit
talking to my kids
a good mom
copying other people's crafts
painting (like house walls - not fancy stuff...)
decorating (especially when I have help from my talented friends!)
working hard

Things I could work on:
cooking balanced and yummy meals - I am working on this one much more frequently :)
playing with my kids
patience - in almost every aspect of my life. I definately live in an instant gratification world.
laundry - is the bane of my existence
going to the temple - goal is to go once a month which is awesome!
having FHE
scrapbooking
not drinking soda - totally addicted to Dr Pepper

I'm sure the list could go on in both categories. Hopefully this gets you thinking about what you are good at. We all wonderful abilities and talents and hobbies. I'm glad I do. And I'm grateful my cousin shared this with me so I could be reminded of how I am. Cause I am awesome. :)

today...

Chase and Jace at the pond with their popcicles! :)

Daija is a pro on her bike now! :)

Kyla and Chase hanging out by the water with the ducks.

Today has been eventful and so I need to remember it. This morning we walked/biked down to the duck pond. It's quite the walk...at least one mile one way... Every Monday we do something fun with Mom's in our neighborhood/ward/friends and this Monday was a bike ride to the duck pond. It's down hill the whole way there. It was hot even at 10am and when we were almost there and Chase was struggling I had a bad feeling about the uphill return home...(foreshadowing...) When we got to the pond there's a trail all the way around it for running/bikes. Daija was a champ on that bike of hers and went around and around. It's probably a mile around as well. She went at least twice. Girl got her exercise in today for sure! We had popcicles which were really nice and cold. Then the dreaded ride home. I walked pushing Collin in the stroller. Chase rode his too small for him red tricycle. Kyla on her training wheels and Daija on her bike without training wheels. We did ok. I kept telling the girls to ride ahead and wait for us in the next shady spot and I kept telling Chase to catch up to the girls and we could rest in the next shady spot. At one point someone's sprinklers were on and Chase and I walked right through them to cool off. yay spinklers! They helped give Chase a boost. I have the blessing of GREAT friends. 2 blocks from home my friend Ashley, who had been with us at the pond pulled up in her little white truck and loaded all of us and our bikes into her truck and took us the rest of the way! LOL It was sooo hot! We had no water. (My bad!) So I cannot express how grateful I was to not have to keep encouraging the kids to keep going. Blessing #1 of the day. It was evident how tired and hot we were cause when we got home we all drank a big glass of water and Kyla had a melt down over something really stupid.

After we cooled off a minute I tried to get everyone in the van to go school clothes shopping with Grandma Barrett. Went to start the car....nothing. After 3 tries I got it to start, pulled the van out into the driveway and out of fear of going all the way to the mall and getting stranded turned it off to see if it would start again. Nope! It just sat there mocking me silently every time I tried to turn it on. No attempt to even turn over. It was bizarre. No noise at all. I was freaking out. Called Chad - let him know. Called my neighbor to see if he could come help me cause he knows about cars. He came over and tested the battery. 75% Plenty of power to start. No starting. AHHHH! I stood back looking into the drivers seat and noticed a little key thing at the base of the steering column. Apparently I have an anti-theft system. How am I supposed to know if the key gets turned it means the car won't start??? So all that stress and bothering of neighbors simply because a stupid, tiny key was turned the wrong way! I turned it back to where it should have been and it started right up! I totally count this blessing cause we don't have money to fix that stupid van. :) YAY Blessing #2.

So we did get to go shopping, just a little later than we thought. Grandma Barrett spoiled the girls - getting them ready for school. I don't have to get them anything else besides jeans for Daija and shoes for both of them. They got several shirts, pants, and dresses. We are so extremely grateful!!! Big Blessing #3!

Lately I've been feeling bad for myself and a little selfish about not "getting to do what I want to do". So it's really important to remember all the blessings we have every day. I love my family. I love my husband. I love my friends and my ward/neighborhood I live in. I am so richly blessed it is rediculous.

Dedicated

I wanted to make a small note. This page design is dedicated to Chase. He sat with me and helped me pick my background and insisted on something orange. His favorite color. I insisted on it being pretty. So we compromised with this wonderful design which I am quite pleased with. :) Love you Chase!

Daija and her bike

Daija can ride her bike! It's taken sweat, blood, and tears but she has finally talked herself into believing she can do it and has it down now! Poor Daddy's back is sore. Our neighbor Grant's grass will never be the same. There's been close run-ins with our car in the driveway. To turn around she goes up into a driveway and then freaks out on the way down cause the bike starts going fast so she decides to bail into the grass and "crash". Every time. No matter what. She has never been able to start on her own either. Chad has to go out and hold onto the seat until she wobbles around enough to re-remember what to do to balance. BUT YESTERDAY I gave her an ultamadum when I caught her trying to ride Kyla's bike which has training wheels still. "Either ride your own bike or go inside and take a shower." Here's something you should know about my beautiful Daija. She refuses to bathe. I know that seems gross - or at least to me it does. But she will fight and fight with me about it. She showers all by herself and can wash by herself and yet she just "hates" it. So I knew she would do basically anything to delay her bathtime. And she did. Chad held onto the bike once or twice cause he's nice like that and then showed her how to pump the first pedal and then hurry and get the other foot up there and keep pedaling so she can keep going. It takes a few tries and she's better at it if she starts with her right foot first but she was able to do it all by herself last night and even went all the way up and down our street - which is pretty amazing. :) Good job Daija!