You know it's a bad day at church when....

You know it's a bad day at church when several people up to you after the meeting to tell you "You're doing a great job."  

The meeting began with Eric standing in the aisle for the first 10 or 15 minutes arms folded, scowling, and "Umph"ing because he wanted his Dad who was on the stand.  When he started kicking the bench and then hit the guy in front of us, I finally let him wander up there.  That was okay until the first speaker stepped down and Eric decided he wanted to stand on the podium stool.  Thus began wrestling match#1 between Dad and Eric.  Unable to calm him down, Brian brought Eric down to me.  I took him to the hall.  We returned 2 more times to try and last the meeting out.  (Thank goodness for a kind friend who took care of Andrew during the fiasco.)  

With only a few remaining minutes of the meeting Andrew was laying in the aisle trying to crawl up to the stand.  I was hanging on to his leg.  So with only the song and prayer left, I let Andrew go up to sit on Brian's lap.  But Andrew decided he'd rather stand on the stool next to the podium and grin at everyone.  Brian tried to hold him.  I went up to the stand to help and tried to sit the last 3 minutes out.  But I lost the fight again, carrying Andrew out of the chapel.  

After the meeting more than one person came up to tell me what a great job I'm doing.  I even got a couple of hugs.  It did make me feel better to know that there were some very understanding people watching the whole mess.  But then while I drove home I thought "Must have really been bad."  

Before and After

In November some of my family came and helped us with a couple of big projects.  My brothers and Dad did some great work!  And their families were so supportive and helpful too.  Thank you!  I've been waiting to post before/after pictures until I finished painting one of the rooms. :

First project, our storage room.  What was once a big, cement room with cheap plastic shelves and a lot of stuff on the floor...

is now an organized food storage room with lots of shelves to fill!  

Next, I wanted to make a play room under the stairs.  So, this mess is what we started with -- an unfished closet full of piles of stuff.  

 

What we now have is a cute little play room, complete with a window in the wall.  I finally finished the painting (6 hours of work which took me 6 weeks to accomplish.)  Andrew had requested red paint...well it's a very small room and red seemed too dark.  So we compromised on light orange.  Not my first choice, but still fun for a playroom. 

When we put the kitchen in the room Andrew was very excited.  He said "Now we just need a couch in here!"  

Thank you to our wonderful family!  You're the best!

Halloween

I don't love halloween -- but I do find it much more entertaining with my kids.  Andrew was very into it this year.  And Eric seemed to enjoy things too.  We did a lot of celebrating: 

First, there was a little party at the church on Wednesday.  Eric was a Construction Site Worker and Andrew was a pirate.  

Thursday we had a Joy School party.  Andrew was hilarious.  He was definitely not shy as he came parading out in his costume, swinging his sword around and announcing, "Arrrrh!  I'm a pirate!"  Then after each song they performed, he bowed repeatedly, saying "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."  And finally the teacher and kids told a little story in which they had to work together to move a very large pumpkin.  Andrew improvised -- suddenly he waved his hand, "Abracadabra!  I'm Superman!"  And of course Superman was able to move the pumpkin without anyone's help.  Too bad that wasn't actually part of the skit.

And tonight we went to trick or treat at Grandma's apartment building, then came home to trick or treat too.  This time Eric was a Spiderman.  Unfortunately he wouldn't keep the eye mask on, but he was good to keep the Amish looking Spiderman hat on.   

Sister's Weekend 2008

Every year my sisters, mom, and I get together to spend a weekend away.  This year we went to "Time Out for Women" in Omaha, Nebraska.  The time off was great and I always have a good time with my sisters and Mom.  The Time Out speakers and performers were uplifting too.  I am so grateful that I have such a great family.  I am so grateful for the great examples they are to me.

Family Rules

Lately our house has been very loud and less-than-peaceful.  So tonight I decided that while we ate some dessert, we should come up with a few "Family Rules."  I asked Andrew what he thought some family rules should be.  Here are his comments, in order of mentioning:

1.  Tell the truth.

2. Don't go in a siten job (construction site area.)

3. Only go to a landfill with Mom and Dad.  

4. Eat your dinner.

I'm still chuckling at Number 3 -- we have never been to a landfill before.  But one of Andrew's favorite videos is about trucks -- including a garbage truck.  I'm guessing this is where he's heard that you shouldn't go into a landfill (especially not without Mom and Dad.)

One thing that I've been trying to think of is consequences for breaking the rules (namely hitting and yelling.)  We've always done time-outs, but they aren't very effective for us.  If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

It's days like these that I have to look at pictures of my cute little boys to remember just how good they are.

Trip to Idaho

This past weekend we took a much needed long weekend break in Idaho.  We kicked off the weekend with a "Cousin Work Party" at my brother's house.  Check it out here.  Then we headed to my parent's home and enjoyed watching General Conference.  Eric was especially excited about eating apples.

On Monday we went to my parent's cabin.  It was so beautiful there...yellow and orange Aspens, quiet cabin, and rippling lake.  So beautiful and peaceful.  Andrew was so excited to be there he talked a mile a minute for the first 20 minutes while we were there.  4-wheeling was a highlight for both of the boys.  

My dad stayed up at the cabin to work on a retaining wall while we headed back to my parent's house with my mom.  Andrew seemed very concerned that Grandpa was still at the cabin -- he kept saying "Grandpa's at the cabin for a long, long, long time.  I bet he's really, really tired."  He must have pictured him building that wall all night long.  Finally Grandma reassured him by telling him that there is a bed there too, so he could rest.  

Our last day we spent with my sister and her kids.  Andrew and Eric had a great time with Jacob.  And we of course went to Taco Time for lunch.  Then we went and checked out my newly wed niece's apartment.  It's already cuter than our house and we've been married for 5 years.  Some people just have great taste, I guess.  Anyway, it was a fun filled weekend.  

 

Brian's Birthday

Last week we celebrated Brian's birthday. In a desparate attempt to come up with a gift, I made a candy bar poster for him. I thought it would be fun to make with the kids but Andrew was too distracted because his friend Elizabeth was going to come over to play. And Eric clearly wanted one thing from that poster....candy. Still, it was fun to make and surprise Brian with it.
And just in case you're concerned that Brian's attempting a little fro hairdo, just know he got to the barber shortly after this picture was taken. (:

The Morning Routine

We try and go walking each morning...last week it was actually cool enough that the kids needed jackets. Yeah for Fall! I thought they looked cute bundled up so I took a picture. Andrew didn't want to smile, instead he wanted to do a "mean face." Ends up he's still smiling.

The Doctor is In

The other night Andrew was giving me a check-up -- Armed with a shot, he'd say "Okay, where do you hurt?" Pointing to my arm, I reply, "Right here." Then, stabbing me in the stomach he'd say, "No. I think you hurt right here." He also bandaged my arm with putty and a smiley sticker. I'm sure he's a very competent doctor, but there was one problem...he wasn't wearing any pants!

First Day of School

Andrew started Joy School last week. He was very excited. I was concerned that he thought it would be like Elementary School -- we live next door to the school and so he sees all the kids, the buses, the big building, playground, etc. Sure enough, as we walked up to the house that first day he said "But this isn't school!" Here is a picture of him on the first day -- he's holding a truck that he chose to take to "Share and Tell."
So each morning he tells me he doesn't want to go, but once he gets there he has fun. And I think it'll get better as he gets to know the other kids. It is clear that his favorite part of school is "free play." He's been playing pirates during that time -- there are only girls in his class, but I guess he convinced them to march around with swords too. Ahhhrrrg!

His usual response to "How was school?" is "I'm too tired to talk about that." So today I waited a few hours and asked again...he responded in an exasperated tone "Why do you keep talking to me about Joy School?" Ha. What a boy.

It was also our Anniversary last week. 5 years! Brian sent me this beautiful bouquet of flowers. Nice. Then Dave and Allyson watched the kids so we could go to dinner. We went to the Snake Creek Grill in Heber City. The food was delicious....it's been a long time since I went to a restaurant that good. Yum. And it was nice to go on a long drive without the kids. The evening was almost perfect-- the only drawback was the seating in the restaurant. I could hardly carry on a conversation during the first part of dinner because seating was so tight that I felt like we were practically sharing the table with the people next to us. But once the loud lady next to me left, I wasn't so distracted. Anyway, it was a great night with my great husband.