Mom Remembers

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!