Mom Remembers

I can't believe it has been 5 years since Soren was born!  I remember the hospital staff wheeling him into my room, clean and beautiful, small enough to fit into a Christmas stocking.  Sometimes it seemed like he would never be big enough to do anything and now it feels like he has grown up in the blink of an eye. This is what we did to celebrate his big day: 1. My brother and sister came up from Provo to play with the kids all day.  The boys *love* their aunts and uncles, who have loads of energy and enjoy raucous games.  So that was a special treat. 2. The first thing that Soren did when he woke up was make an invitation for his neighbor, Ethan, to come to a birthday party.  I had not planned on inviting any kids over for cake because I thought Soren preferred adult company.  But I guess he knows that birthdays mean having other kids over so he took some initiative.  He wrote the invitation and delivered it all by himself, inviting Ethan (who...

CARL:  There is a frog fetus in my throat and at Christmas-time, I am going to get even fatter! SOREN:  Boys can't have a uterus and birth canal.  Your birth canal is between your legs.  But kids don't have them. CARL:  When the frog fetus comes out of my belly, it will be a new member of our family!

I was reading the voter information for the upcoming election and Soren was reading over my shoulder.  I was looking at the issues and trying to decide who to vote for but he was looking at the big, flashy sloguns.  He says to me: SOREN: I am excited for Utah to lead America! Oh, the gullible heart of a child.

Soren adores his teacher, Brother Lanier, and he is super nervous about speaking in church.  So, for the 2012 Primary Program (and Soren's first talk in sacrament meeting), Soren and I wrote a talk that he could give with  Brother Lanier.  I don't want to loose it so I am posting it here. SOREN: My name is Soren and this is Brother Lanier, my teacher. BROTHER LANIER: We are going to talk about following Jesus. SOREN: I can choose the right by following Jesus. Jesus gave us his love. I can follow his example by giving my love to him. BROTHER LANIER: We can also follow his example by giving our love to each other. SOREN: I love Japanese characters even though they are really hard to learn. BROTHER LANIER: That's good but Jesus showed love for other people . Who can you show love for? SOREN: I can show love to everyone. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. By the way, the presentation of it went really well.  He was a lot...

ELLIOT (who is 6 years old):  Do you know how to read? SOREN:  A little bit.  (pauses)  But I don't know how to read in the dark.

1. OK, so there are 2 things on this list that should have been posted on last week's Friday Favorites.  But we were camping in Goblin Valley on Friday so I didn't get around to posting.  Which is my #1.  Camping in Goblin Valley last week was AWESOME!  We went with our neighbors, the Cowarts, and it was probably our best camping trip ever.  One of the reasons it was so great was because of the company.  Another reason is because our kids slept so well.  Usually they keep us up all night but this time, they slept pretty much as well as they do at home.  The weather was pretty much perfect until the thunderstorm that began just as we were leaving.  But the best part was the location.  Goblin Valley is a very unique place and the kids really enjoyed climbing around on all the cool rock formations. There was lots of sand to play with and tons of neat nooks and crannies , including an awesome cave . 2. And my second thing that I should hav...

1.  Last weekend, I pulled out the clothing bins to change our summerwear for autumnwear.  And I finally  switched Carl into 3T clothes!  We dug out all big things Soren was wearing last fall and now Carl is wearing them!  He has looked bigger and stronger and more capable to me all week. 2.  We are getting ready to celebrate Michaelmas tomorrow, so a lot of my favorite moments this week were preparing for the festivities.  Scott repaired the boys' wooden swords and made cardboard shields on Sunday, so that our sons will have all the tools they need to fight evil dragons!   Soren and Carl painted their shields as part of our Kindergarten class on Monday.  We are keeping the armaments in reserve for tomorrow, when the boys insist that we are going to have a special Michaelmas fight.  (I still have no ideas about that.) 3.  On Tuesday, we went up in the mountains with our neighbors to collect goldenrod in the hopes of turning i...

1. Last Saturday, we took the boys to the Red Butte Gardens at the University of Utah.  They are amazing!  Scott and I loved the Fragrence Garden, which smelled fantastic  and the boys loved the Children's Garden.  There was a little house made out of wire and covered in vines with little stump chairs inside that Carl enjoyed.  Soren ran around in a vine covered maze shaped like a snake until he found the giant fiberglass lizards on the lawn.  Then he spent the rest of the morning playing on the lizards.  We saw a lot of bees in the garden so we looked in the gift shop for honey and we found some!  We tried it on toast for lunch and--yum!--it was so good! 2. The New Super Schedule!  My neighbor and I made new daily schedules (for us and for our kids) to try out this week and it has been really AWESOME!  Whining is at an all-time low and productivity is at an all-time high. 3.  As part of The New Super Schedule, I am running a "...

and it seems I make a new one every season. This past summer, I pretty much took a break from scheduling and just let my life run free!  I didn't get much done but the kids kept themselves reasonably entertained and my house didn't catch fire, so that's great.  Still, with autumn coming and Scott back in school, I find myself craving some more predictability.  And since I have more energy than I did this summer, I want a plan for accomplishing the stuff I want to. My friend Michelle and I were feeling about the same way at the same time so we spent last week cooking up some awesome schedules.  This week, we are putting our honor on the line and holding each other accountable for sticking to them.  By the end of the week, we hope to make a few tweeks and then be ready for a productive autumn! Today was Day One of The New Super Schedule and I *love* it! Here's the plan: 7 am - I get up and read the scriptures.  Then, the kids get up and get dressed...

This is not really funny, just one of those "aw" moments I want to remember forever: SOREN:  Mom, what does "ecstatic" mean? ME:  It means really really really really really happy. SOREN:  I am feeling ecstatic! ME:  I can tell!  You are jumping around and smiling like crazy! SOREN:  I am ecstatic because you love me!

SOREN:  Mom!  Mom!  Carl is going to throw me out the window! ME:   (laughing)  I very much doubt that. SOREN:  He wants me to be his baby bird!  I am so scared! ME:  I don't think that Carl can throw you out the window.  He's not big enough. SOREN:  But I want to be a pokemon!  I drank some blueberry lemonade and now I'm going to evolve.  I'm evolving!

We actually didn't celebrate Carl's birthday on August 20th, seeing as how he had already had 2 parties, one with each set of grandparents.  We did normal things like unpacked from our trip and played outside with friends.  I gave Carl a few presents: a costume hat with tiger ears on it as well as a set of lacing cards for him to use in church meetings.  But we did plenty of celebrating before  his birthday: 1. My parents had a party on August 12th in West Virginia.  My dad blew up balloons with his nose, just like in the good old days and the kids had a great time chasing them around. 2. My mom made three cakes, one for Carl, one for me, and one for Pat.  We all have summer birthdays and birthdays are a big deal to the Bergs.  Carl's cake was funfetti with green frosting, fruit snacks for decoration, and three tall candles.   Sniff, sniff, because he is three years old! 3. There were lots of presents, mostly clothes all around.  Of n...

CARL:  Knock, knock. ME:  Who's there? CARL:  Donut. ME:  Donut who? CARL:  Donut worry, it's just a joke! ME:  Wow, Carl!  That was  a joke!  That was funny! SCOTT:  Yeah, that actually made sense. CARL:  I am going to tell you a lot of jokes! ME:  Ok. CARL:  Knock, knock. ME:  Who's there? CARL:  Cheerio. ME:  Cheerio who? CARL:  Cheerio worry, it's just a joke!

CARL:  I'm going to sing you a song. ME: Ok. CARL:  It's a secret song. ME:  Ok. CARL:  It's called ABCs. ME:  I like that song. CARL:  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY and ... poop!  Now I know my AB poop!  Next time won't you poop with me?   (hilarious laughter)

When I listen to, read about, or even watch what other moms are doing for their kids, I start to panic.  I begin to wonder, am I doing enough? Because I'm not doing science experiments with my kids.  I haven't taught them Quenya (or even Spanish!).     I'm not teaching them about money.  I don't cook with them, even when they ask to help me.   Although I would love to, I rarely take them to play outside our own yard.  They aren't taking music lessons or participating in team sports.  Soren isn't even attending preschool, so he doesn't play with kids his own age.   I miss tons of "teaching opportunities" because I am too busy doing my own stuff.  And I don't really make up for all that busy by scheduling time to play with them.   Sometimes, when I go back and read the things that I  wrote on this blog, I panic.  I worry that I have fallen too far, even from the little I used to do. Because I haven't taught Carl his al...

SOREN:  Excuse me, Mom. ME:  Yes, Soren? SOREN:  Someone is tooting on our car. ME:  Who? SOREN:  The sun.  The sun is tooting on our car.

1.  He loves to sing and knows a prodigious number of songs. 2.  He can set the table. 3.  He usually invites friends over for lunch.  When there is no one to play with, he tells me "I want to visit someone!"  Since I also crave company, we make a pretty good team. 4.  He is a cheerful guy.  He smiles easily and often. 5.  When he gets upset, he bounces back quick. 6.  He plays imaginative games with Soren frequently.  They are pretty happy to cooperate in a flight of fancy. 7.  He likes hugs and kisses.  I love it when he rushes up and hugs my knees. 8.  He can be quiet during family scripture study.  And afterwards, he always asks for a synopsis in terms he can understand. 9.  He is brave.  Yesterday, he climbed up a great big curved ladder at the playground, all by himself.   10.  He speaks clearly and politely. 11.  He can pull me  in a wagon!  That takes ...

SOREN:  Mom, only you can prevent werewolves. ME:  Oh, okay.  Wait, did you say werewolves? SOREN:  Yeah.  You can put them in a ziploc bag or slash them with your sword.  That's how you prevent them.

I came into the bedroom to get Carl up from his nap.  He was just waking up, so I crawled into bed to cuddle with him a little bit.  It was very comfortable and I was thinking I might like a nap myself when Carl started to stir in earnest. ME:  Hey, Carl.  Did you have a good nap? CARL:  Yes.   [gets out of bed]   Now I am going to go play. ME:  OK. CARL:   [holds up two fingers]   You have two choices: you can get out of bed and play with me or you can stay in the bed. ME:  That's an easy choice.  I'll just stay here in the bed. CARL:  OK!  Have a good nap!

1. This has been the week of Zelda.  Scott bought The Legend of Zelda for the wii over the weekend and then spent Monday making a map and a manual for Soren.  Soren was thrilled about the map and the manual; he studied them all week long.  Then, he started carrying his sword everywhere and pretending to rescue Zelda.  He finally played the game on Thursday, albeit very slowly.  He did manage to get the sword and even kill a few tektites.  And so begins his personal relationship with video games. 2. The kids are really excited about Easter.  When I was drawing up our schedule for the week, Soren started dancing around the kitchen and hugging my legs.  He was so thrilled to find out that Easter was *finally* coming. 3. OK, the kids are not the only ones excited about Easter.  I am really excited about it too!  I have been thinking about it and planning for it all week and I feel really good about our plans. 4.  Also, I have been...

7: 48 am awake 7: 49 am jumping on the mattress 7: 59 am making the bed 8: 23 am eating breakfast 8: 37 am taking a bath 9:11 am getting dry 9: 18 am dressing 10: 15 am library storytime 10: 29 am streamers 10: 55 am reading a book 10:58 am The Crystal Cave 11:18 am riding home from the library 1:22 pm finishing up lunch 1:24 pm reading a book during naptime 1:56 pm napping 4:07 pm up from nap 4:36 pm reading books during Room Time 5:07 pm Benjamin helps clean up the toys 5:10 pm Easter cards from Mother and Father Duede 5:18 pm walking to the Wiley's house for Mom and Dad's date night 5:28 pm the swing in front of the Wiley's house 8:32 pm Carl when Mom and Dad got back from date night 8:33 pm the wings are taken away 8:56 pm bedtime story 9:01 pm a very late lights out

SOREN:  This is Armos, the Stone Soldier. ME: Oh, cool! SOREN:  He turned to stone. ME:  Does that make him stronger or weaker? SOREN:  That makes him dead.

1. My primary lesson on Sunday went really well.  The bishop has given me permission to leave my little harp at the church so I will be able to use it in my lessons every week!   And  I'm going to bring food whenever I can.  With food and the harp, I  am more able to keep the kids' attention.  This Sunday was especially good, though, because Scott came to our class as a special visitor.  He taught the kids about how baptisms are performed.  He is a really excellent presenter and the kids were really drawn into what he talked about. 2.  Now that I am free from the pull of Dragonlance, I have been able to catch up on housework this week.  I think the nice weather is also very inspiring.  The whole world is clean and fresh and so is my home. 3.  On Sunday, I told Carl the story of Jesus calming the storm during the sacrament.  He really liked it and asked me to tell it over and over again during the meeting.  He has ...

1.  I read the whole Dragonlance Legends trilogy this week.  It was phenomenal!  Hooray for Raistlin and Caramon! 2.  I wrote a lullaby for Soren on Monday about  Haumea , his current obsession.  He was thrilled to pieces about the little song and has asked me to sing it every night.  I'm actually really proud of the song and writing it got me excited about composing. 3.  Emily Becker is the one that inspired me to write a song for Soren.  We visited her on Monday morning and she really lifted my spirits.  The boys played with her kids, watched Charlie Brown, and ate lots of dinosaur chicken nuggets. 4.  The end of our Hollow Earth campaign was really fun.  Scott finished up the game on Tuesday night with an epic battle between a giant stone robot (piloted by the party) and a horror from beyond the stars.  The group really enjoyed the game and is excited to start a new game in a couple of weeks.  So I'm goi...

1. Spring break!  Scott has had very little work to do this week and we have all enjoyed having him around more.  I love watching him play with the kids and they love to be around him. 2. Pi day!  We had a pi day party on Wednesday.  Not very many people came but it was a wonderful excuse to make lots of pies.  I made pineapple and key lime as well as a quiche and 2 chicken pot pies.  Scott made an amazing berry pie.  There were tons of left-overs ... and still are.  But we're not complaining! 3.   D'Aulaire's Book of Trolls .  This is quite possibly the best picture book ever and Carl has been loving it.  It's fun to read with beautiful illustrations a rich, mythic feel.  I figured it would be pretty good (given how much we enjoy D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths ) but I didn't know it would be even more awesome! 4.  We have a couple of extra kids at our house tonight and I enjoyed watching my sons interact with them....

1. Carl has been emotionally volatile this week.  He has been throwing very angry tantrums and taking a lot of  breaks  with me.  Now that doesn't sound much like a favorite but hold on a minute, hear me out.  I have been thinking a lot this week about when Soren was 2-1/2 and remembering how stressed I was about his frequent and powerful rages.  And it passed, in part because of our constant effort to teach him emotional control but mostly because of the natural passage of time.  Remembering that has, in some weird way, made Carl's tantrums not only more bearable but also a little sweet to me.  I know that this is a part of him growing up and I am excited about helping him through it.  He is becoming a little person and just realizing that, while he can do many things and make many choices for himself, he can't control everything.  That is a huge thing to learn and I am glad to be his mom and to be there for him. 2. Scott ran Hollow E...

This post is very late. Friday is actually a horrible day for me to blog. So I missed last week entirely and this week ... I decided that late was better than never.  That said: on to the favorites! 1. Soren didn't wet the bed at all last week.  That is HUGE. 2. He has figured out that he can get out of bed to go to the potty whenever he needs/wants.  On Monday night, a friend came over to play games after the kids went to bed.  Soren got up to "use the toilet" every five minutes so that he could see what was up.  He would just stand there, pants down, leaning over the toilet, and watching the game for as long as he could get away with.  Then I would send him back to bed ... until the next time he "needed to pee".  It made me laugh. 3. Michelle and I exercised five days in a row this week!  I am feeling pretty good.  Sherise joined us halfway through the week, which we have been trying to convince her to do for weeks now.  I w...

1. We had a dance party on Sunday.  We were listening to a Fraggle Rock CD Carl picked out at the library and suddenly, we were all up, dancing and singing along.  We have actually been enjoying that CD all week.  Pretty much every time it goes on, we can't help but start singing and dancing.  But Sunday was the best. 2.  Today, during Soren's rest time, I heard him bust up laughing in bed.  When I went in to see what was so funny, he was reading "The Mischief Makers' Manual", a book from his  Nan .  It is actually a very funny book but I wouldn't have expected him to understand it.  Apparently, he is sophisticated enough to get the humor of unexpected or embarrassing situations.  Cool. 3. Scott brought home red tulips for Valentine's Day, which was very unexpected and sweet. 4.  We went to visit  Madelyn , one of my friends from Interlochen, on Wednesday.  She has two kids a little older than mine and they play...

1. It seems to me that "The Terrible Twos" describes 2-1/2-year-olds.  Carl certainly seems to fly into a rage more often now-a-days.  But along with this upsurge of negative emotion has also come a much greater upsurge of positive emotion.  He has an increased enthusiasm for pretty much everything.  Carl is excited about life and very vocal about his excitement.  I like that. 2. He is also becoming a capable little person, which is cool.  He can go up and down stairs by himself. 3. He can walk the half mile to a friend's house. 4. He (usually) lets me know when he needs to use the toilet all by himself. 5. He can reach the kitchen counter so he can put away his own dinner dishes without spilling anything. 6. He can solve his own disputes with other children. Not always in the ways I would like but he is a participating member of the solutions, which is a start. 7. He can reach and fetch and clean up.  This means he can get what he wants o...

1. This may make me a bad mother but ... my favorite  thing about this week is that Soren has been grounded from watching/playing Megaman all week long.  This is what happened: On Sunday, we explained to Soren that he was supposed to listen to his teacher and learn about Jesus in Primary.  We told him that he could choose to play Megaman at home or in Primary but not both.  For a few weeks, that has been very effective at curbing Megaman related "shooting" during singing time.  But this Sunday, he karate chopped his teacher, explaining that he was "Sword Man".  Although I was terribly embarrassed on Sunday, I have really enjoyed the reprieve for the rest of the week.  Hooray for my break from Megaman! 2. On of my other favorites was during Sally's lesson today.  I came up with this clever ploy to trick her into performing for a stranger.  I texted my neighbor and asked her to come to my house during Sally's lesson and pretend to borrow a cu...

1. Soren makes me laugh.  A lot. 2. I really like it when he helps me do my chores.  Soren loves to sweep, fold clothes, dry dishes, mop floors, and (especially) scrub the toilet. 3. He also likes to cook.  He always wants to help make dinner.  He can dump, stir, and grate. 4. He can put on his own outdoor gear, which is a huge help. 5. And, now that he has a backpack, he can haul is own books to and from the library, his own scriptures to and from church, and his own sleeping gear to and from kid swap. 6. Sometimes I call him my little minion.  He will fetch and carry for me. 7. Soren loves babies.  Of all the neighborhood kids, his favorite is the youngest.  He is kind and gentle with very young children. 8. He is good at talking about his feelings. 9. Soren is very concerned with right and wrong.  He wants to follow the rules of a game, obey the rules of our house, or do a job in the correct steps.  He becomes very stressed when ...

1.  I changed up the kids routine just a little so that Soren is the one in Room Time when Scott gets home and Carl is the one who is out.  Carl *loves* to run and give his dad a hug at the end of a workday.  I think it's really cute and Scott certainly appreciates Carl's excitement. 2.  I really enjoyed visiting with Claudia Batey today.  She was very happy to see us, which is always rewarding, and the kids were excited to see her too, which confused me a little.  That is, until I saw them together and remembered just how great Claudia is with young children.  She is animated and interested in their stories.  Who would have thought that my kids would love to visit a 50-year-old single woman with no kids and no toys? 3.  Exercising has to make my favorites this week.  It's exciting to be able to make it through a work-out session without dying.  I like that there is measurable improvement in my stamina.  Woot! 4.  Th...

SOREN:  My hand is covered in pizza sauce! ME:  That's blood. SOREN:  Oh no!  My blood cells are spilling out!  [he thinks about it for awhile]  This is good news: my muscles and bones are staying on the inside.

1. Last Saturday, some new friends invited us (and all our favorite gamers) to their house for a Murder Mystery Party!  It was so much fun!  I played a ruthless wannabe gangster woman, daughter to the murdered man and madly in love with my very own unapproved Romeo.  That would be Scott, who played a murdering Frenchman!  He studied French accents all afternoon while I sewed him a beret.  We had a blast!  And so did everyone else at the party.  We all loved it so much, we're going to do another one in a few weeks at our apartment. 2. Soren has been helping me cook all week.  Whenever I am working in the kitchen, he comes and asks if he can help--which I love!  He usually just dumps cans and stirs batter but I love it!  I'm wondering if he is too young to learn knife skills ... under extreme adult supervision, of course. 3. Another favorite: backpacks.  My sister bought the boys backpacks for Christmas.  They have been excit...

1. I revamped my whole schedule this week and made the Super Duper Schedule.  It's taped to the desk right now.  It's so beautiful!  I love to reorganize stuff, time being one of the things I love to reorganize.  The new schedule works great. 2. When Owen came to my house this week, he stayed for the afternoons and took a nap in the boy's room.  Sleeping kids are one of life's greatest joys.  And there is something extra sweet about having 3 kids sleeping in a house at once.  I asked Sister Wiley if she would like Owen to take a nap at my house every time he comes over.  I think we'll be doing that for the rest of the semester. 3.  I worked out with Michelle three days this week.  It was exhausting and also somehow invigorating.  And it's in the Super Duper Schedule so I'll be doing more next week. 4.  Scott was offered two more classes to teach this semester.  He'll be working quite a bit more this semester and...

I am really surprised by the astute observation Carl made the other night.  He and Soren were laying together in bed while Scott and I were reading in the living room.  Soren called out to us: SOREN: There's a giant in my room! CARL: Soren says there's a giant in his room!  That's because he wants to get out of bed!

I want to rip off a friend and start posting my Friday Favorites.  I think it's a great way to remember the week and to record fun things that are going on.  I also love to read my friend's Friday Favorites because they make me happy!  I bet it makes her even happier to write them.  So I'm going to experiment with them. 1. Soren has gotten really excited about watching Scott play Megaman lately, which he did a lot over the Christmas break.  Now Soren plays Megaman with paper!  He makes paper dolls of Megaman and the different villains as well as backgrounds for them to fight on.  He spends all his spare time drawing and cutting and taping his new "toys" together.  I *love* to see him envision a project and then carry it through!  I also love that he is entertaining himself so happily. 2. We went to the park this week in the freezing cold.  The boys were very excited about their snow pants!  I was also excited because they didn'...