January Highlights...

Don't be deceived by the happy smiles. The crown picture was taken just after primary on the first Sunday of the New Year. The kids had a GREAT time in Sunbeam class and although they were nervous for singing/sharing time, they sat close to each other and got through. We almost had a potential meltdown when another little girl was assigned to sit in between Leah and Caleb. Caleb could hardly control his emotions. Luckily we got that resolved and all was well. So the first Sunday went dandy but now that the second and third Sunday have passed, we are totally bummed. The kids do NOT want to go to primary anymore. Zachary sprinted out of the room last Sunday (luckily I was walking by in the hall) and he was crying hysterically. He said he was sad that no mommies or daddies were in there. I think it's a lot of new people and no familiar faces. What's funny is that when he was a baby he was sooooo overly sensitive to EVERYTHING. He would cry if I opened the microwave. Any loud noises or chaotic places would upset him. I can still see that trait in him every now and again. I think the chaos of primary overwhelms him. Big room, lots of adults, none of whom he recognizes, and no toys to play with. As always, it's a ripple effect with those three but luckily Leah has been more melancholy about the whole thing.  She at least agrees to go and sit quietly even though she's nervous. So a new game plan has been put in place for this upcoming Sunday and we're crossing our fingers. I know it'll get better but I did not expect the resistance. I really wish the transition had been treated with more attention (since there were 13 Sunbeams going in) but oh well. Every ward is different. If I am ever in the Primary presidency I suppose I'll be sure to do that. Anyway, they did like their 'Child of God' crowns and are still wearing them three weeks later.

I'm excited to be doing this post because I finally get to write down that after ONE YEAR OF POTTY TRAINING, Leah is finally there! It's surreal. Seriously. Sometimes I think 'I'm all done with potty training' but then I shake that thought away because it just can't be true. The boys were a breeze. They still are really. I don't have to accompany them to the bathroom. They just go and do their thing with only needing help every once and a while. It's awesome. Until Caleb uses every washcloth available as toilet paper and then throws them in the sink. Like...why did he even think to do that? He's one of those kids that will try to solve or fix a perceived problem on his own before consulting an adult. He does it all the time. Like when a piece of carpet was coming off our stair he thought he could help by pulling at all the strings and eventually removing it all together. He claimed he was helping.

Anyway, so potty chronicles with Leah may just be over. After the new year I was just getting super annoyed by her inconsistency. I can't blame her for it though because she would sleep in underwear but use a pull up in the day. Sometimes I'd forget to get her a pull up in the morning and she'd do her thing right in her underwear probably thinking she had a pull up on. I knew she could keep her pull up dry but she just wouldn't because that takes time and effort. So after going through six pull ups one morning I told her they were going bye bye and she was going to do everything in the potty from now on. I had been patient for a long time and really wanted to assess where she was anyway. During all the potty drama last year she started withholding for 5-7 days at a time. As a result, she would experience lots of pain when she finally did go and every time was so dramatic. On about day 3 or 4 she would get really lethargic and whiny and would lay by my feet all day. She refused to go in the potty or a pull up. It was a nightmare. The biggest nightmare because she was in control. I couldn't do anything. I had used Miralax at a certain point but never felt like it was getting positive results for her. That, among other reasons, I decided to stop using it. I looked for other alternatives (fiber gummies, suppositories, etc...) but NOTHING was working. She had too much will power. Then I stumbled across the product MagO7. Magnesium, in the right form and delivered in the proper way, can have a stool softening affect and this product had apparently worked miracles for many a person. Plus it can be used long term. So I cut the dose by about 80% and tried it on Leah. I also read that it takes children 6-12 months to forget traumatic experiences so....I knew we were in for the long haul. I started her on the Mag in August, immediately saw positive results, and stopped talking about the potty with Leah all together. We never talked about it and I just kept up the medicine. Then at the end of December I was ready to try again and luckily she seemed mentally ready. I'm giving credit to two things: Mag07 and the movie Frozen.

Frozen is such a cute movie. We saw it as a family on New Year's Day and I knew I had to get the soundtrack. The songs in the movie were phenomenal. When it comes to music, I tend to get kind of obsessive. Like I have to have the lyrics memorized as soon as possible and listen to my favorites all day everyday. I did that all through high school and I do it still now. Just not as much because the kids don't like when I turn the music up loud in the car and sing. But with Frozen, they love the music too so we all sing loud together! One Christmas I printed off the lyrics to Baby it's Cold Outside because I fell in love with a new rendition of the song. I wanted Clark to learn the male part so we could sing it together...like at our house or in the car. Ha. He was totally not on board so I had to learn the male part myself. Whatever. Point is, I obsess if I like a certain song or album. So we started listening to it and realized how much we loved the movie. 'We' meaning me and the kids. Maybe me more than the kids.  Caleb of course took to the silly sidekick of Olaf and Zachary couldn't decide between the snow monster and  Christoff.  He's in a constant battle between wanting to be the bad guy and the good guy...so we let him take on both those characters in Frozen.  Leah is Elsa and I'm Anna.  Clark's role is still undecided although he could be a troll or the reindeer.  Depends on what the kids want that particular day.  :)  So I decided to bribe Leah with an Elsa doll if she would go in the potty. So she did...and I gave her the Anna doll. I said she could get Elsa if she went again. So she did. So I gave her the Elsa doll. But then I had a different Elsa doll I showed her and bribed her again. So she went again. This was all in a span of about a week and a half. Then I ran out of dolls and panicked that she might not have the motivation anymore. So she got a jump rope for her fourth time, marshmallows the fifth, and by the sixth time I was able to bribe her with some little Frozen figurines from a 'My Busy Book.' She took the bait and has since had about nine successes. I hate just buying and giving her stuff but at this point I will do ANYTHING to make all this a non-issue. So far so good. Frozen has been a lifesaver. Couldn't have come at a better time. Clark's been listening to the Frozen soundtrack at work to make sure he stays in the loop with us when we blast it in the car. :) Don't want him feeling left out. I'm so grateful he humors me during my obsessive musical periods.

This month has been really chilly (for Texas) and as always, we have coughs and runny noses being passed around the family.  As a result, we stayed home and inside as much as possible although Caleb begged and begged everyday to go out to the sandbox, go for a bike ride, or go to the park.  Usually I tell him yes and let him out in the backyard.  He comes back in after a minute and concludes it's too cold to play out there.  Then he doesn't ask again until the next day.  But as with any Texas winter, one day it's in the teens and the next day it's in the 70's!  When that nice day does show up, the trio always request to go on an 'expedition.'  So we put on our explorer vests and head out to see what we can see!  Lots of rocks, ants, acorns, leaves, litter, sticks, and even a spaceship (or so we pretended)!  Good thing they have binoculars to spot the birds and planes in the sky too!

Another couple randoms thoughts from the month include Caleb's morning hair. It never ceases to amaze me. I'm never sure how it gets the way it gets but some questions are better left unanswered.  On the topic of Caleb, he has this weird fascination was being in front of everyone all the time.  It doesn't matter what he has to do to get there, he'll do it.  Whether it's on foot or on a bike, you better watch out.  His stiff-arming skills are what you would see in the NFL and the funny thing is, he has NO idea he is doing it....usually hurting someone in the process.  Then he turns around totally oblivious to what happened.  Which brings us to Leah's first black eye. Boy was it a doozy. Although there was no stiff-arming, Caleb was still involuntarily involved.  He and Leah were in a very intense clean up session which involved very fast running up and down the hall. Caleb rounded the corner out of his room and BAM! Right into Leah's eye. You don't go up against Caleb's head and win. It is rock solid. We've all been victims at one point or another. He did have a goose egg but nothing compared to Leah. Her eye swelled up so big she couldn't open it for a couple days. It was black and blue and looked horrible. After a week and a half, it finally returned to normal size and color. For a couple days in there I really thought she had a concussion because of how tired she suddenly was. She has NEVER fallen asleep at church and the day after her accident, she totally passed out on Clark's lap for the whole Sacrament meeting. Very weird. No other symptoms other than sudden fatigue but weird nonetheless.  On the topic of Leah, she as a serious knack for tying knots.  She does it all over the house....on door knobs, around toys, on chairs, between cupboards, etc...  Not sure what it's going to equate to in her adult life but it's quite the talent!  Sometimes I can barely get them untied!
 

I recently watched this awesome video about a family who started an online business with hair-braiding tutorials. Long story short, the four daughters confessed that they loved having their hair braided in tons of different ways and saw how it impacted their self-confidence and self-esteem. It was something that they could think about, work towards, learn how to do, document, and contribute to the family.  I have said for years and years that I wish I knew how to french braid.  So I was totally inspired after that video and plan to become an expert.  Apparently there is a section on the website for 'Daddy-do's' so that Dad's can be involved in simple hair braiding and use that time with their daughter to talk and bond with them.  I mean, it's pretty comical when Clark attempts to put Leah's hair in a pony tail.  I can't imagine him sitting and braiding it but I love the concept so we'll see where it takes us.  Here's my first attempt at a french braid.  The picture makes it look much better than it actually was.  It was really loose and lopsided. 

Besides braiding and exploring, we've had a couple other fun things up our sleeves this month. The trio LOVE the sandbox so I finally got rid of the RaceTrac cups and decided to buy them real sand toys. They did have a couple small buckets but that was it. We busted out the new shovels and rakes, labeled them with the letters C, Z, and L to avoid any potential fighting, and they all went to work. Luckily during the 5-7 hours that Clark gets to spend with the kids all week, the weather was decent so they hung outside for a while. Because Clark is working so much, my friends and I decided that eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches alone for dinner was not working anymore (their husbands are in the same line of work). So we packed up the kids and met for a pizza/pajama/popcorn and movie party! The kids loved it, we loved it, and there was no peanut butter anywhere in sight. We watched Toy Story 2 and the night flew by. 

I'll end my post with a little funny tidbit from Zachary.  Clark recently purchased some tin banks for them because they like to collect and count pennies but have no where to put them.  The banks are awesome and have three different labeled slots.  One for fun, one for tithing, and one for a mission (got them at Deseret Book).  Zachary was organizing his pennies into his bank and we were explaining each of the slots and he said, "No Dad, I want my slots to be FUN, FUN, and FUN!"  Totally Zachary all the way.  He's all about the fun.



Until next time...

OUR 2013 Christmas...

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.  We love it.  However, we didn't watch NEARLY as many Christmas movies as we should have and I got super lazy with my advent calendar as December went on and I didn't even make a pumpkin roll.   On top of that, we didn't hang any lights outside or watch the movie 'Elf' which we have watched every Christmas since being married.  I bought my own Christmas present from Clark and he received his present almost a month in advance.  Furthermore, our kids still don't like Santa.  Yeeesh.  From an outside perspective, it would seem that our Christmas spirit was faltering and our holiday was doomed to failure.

HOWEVER,

...although this Christmas seemed a little different, I'll highlight the many things we did that made it special and made it ours.

**Matching our outfits on Christmas Sunday.  Clark even had a matching red tie but it didn't get pictured.  Leah was over the moon about it.  SOOO excited to match.  I'll have to purchase some sparkly silver leggings for next year to match her.

**Reading 'Elf on a Shelf', naming our Elf Clarence, and enjoying each morning as the kids' faces lit up when they finally located him.  He hung from lights, laid in the wreath, and visited each child's room which subsequently became that child's special day (that child got to pray, be the first to get in the car, decide what we were doing, decide what to eat, help cook, etc...).  Clarence played with Heman, guarded the presents, and added a little Christmas magic to our holiday. 

**Watching 'It's a Wonderful Life.'  We vowed to only watch 20 minutes of the movie because we were exhausted that night but ended up watching the whole 2 1/2 hours and shedding many tears.  What an awesome movie.  It can never be redone....it is a true classic.  I also learned that's where our Elf's name came from (Clark named him).

**Pulling out activity ideas from the advent calendar each day.  Activities included, but not limited to,  a Christmas tea party, watching Frosty, making paper snowmen, having a paper snowball fight, eating candy canes, reading Christmas books, making rice krispie treats, choosing toys to give away to other children, taking Christmas gifts to the post office, having a 'sleepover' in the living room, driving to see Christmas lights, and coloring Christmas pages.  Like I mentioned, I fizzled out on the activities as Christmas got near but it was fun to have the advent tree out this year for the first time especially because my mom helped me make it and so I'm reminded of her when I look at it.

**Letting the kids sleep with Christmas lights in their room.  That was really magical for them and certainly was a nice bargaining tool when we wanted them to go to bed!

**Celebrating Clark's birthday.  His birthday just confirms that Christmas is indeed near and our excitement starts to grow.  This year we presented him with presents dedicated to his car.  Treats, gum, new rims, gatorade, floss, back heat pads, and a few other things to meet his every need as he drives to and from work everyday, sometimes spending way more time than anticipated in there.  He also got a rice krispie treat in the shape of a 'D' for Dad although I think deep down he really wanted the 'C' so I'll stick with that next year.

**Planning and preparing a Christmas work party for the newer BYU employees at the firm.  We had a lot of fun things planned and a big crowd coming.  THEN the ice storm came.  Or as others have called it 'icepocalypse' or 'icemageddon.'  We've lived here over four years and haven't experienced anything like it.  Freezing rain and below zero temps for days so everything was covered in ice and nothing was melting.  School, work, AND church were cancelled (which is unheard of) because driving was too dangerous.  We rescheduled our party for the following day and moved it to the middle of the afternoon so the roads would at least be slushy and visible.  Everyone agreed to the new time but as the party got closer, person after person cancelled and said they didn't want to drive.  Unfortunately we had already prepped and cooked all our food so we couldn't really move it to the next weekend.  As a result, we improvised and invited two couples over that we'd prefer to spend time with anyway and were willing to brave the roads.  We had a GREAT time because no one had anywhere to be and we just enjoyed each other's company.  And even though we weren't going to be having our ugly sweater contest, Clark and I wore ours anyway and took a picture in our photo area.  The sweaters can't be beat....especially Clark's.

**Driving to see the Christmas lights with the kids and our friend Marisol.  This neighborhood we go see each year is awesome.  It has carriage rides and offers limo services to see the lights.  It's pretty fun.  We had a good time but still had one more house to see on our way home.  It was just a small detour but it was worth it.  What kid wouldn't want to see Santa in a hot air balloon??  The kids jumped out of the car and ran around the yard in their slippers enjoying all the decorations and the music playing (it's a yard you walk through an entrance to see the decor).  Then the owner of the home came out and spoke with us for a bit and later invited us in to see what the inside of his house looked like!!  It was as if from a magazine.  Every nook and cranny filled with decor, it smelled amazing, and he explained how he has 17 Christmas trees.  It was unreal.  He sent us away with cake for the kids and we drove away in awe.  I love when people are just totally, incredibly kind to those they don't even know.  It warms my heart.

**Seeing our kids bring life to our nativity set.  We have a couple nativity sets and they loved to play and pretend with them although Zachary kept wanting the wisemen to fight.  It's hard for him to understand that not all stories have bad guys.  :)  Clark often found pieces of one set in his work shoes and one day I found the figures of the Nativity gathered around some spare change.  the baby Jesus was totally on the outside of the circle and Mary was no where to be found.  Maybe we're not quite relaying the proper message of Christmas to the kids.  :)  We read and talked about the nativity so many times in December I think the kids were glad to have Christmas come and go so they didn't have to recite those scriptures again.

**Teaching the kids the song 'Christmas Bells are Ringing' for the first time and listening to them sing it all month.  It's amazing how fast they learn songs and no matter what Zachary says and even though he refuses to sing most of the time, he always knows the words perfectly.  I know this because he sings when he plays by himself and I go and listen outside his door.  I took the kids into Primary this last week to check it out and luckily the chorister chose to have everyone sing 'Christmas Bells.'  The kids were excited they knew the song although I'm not sure they were thrilled about the prospect of primary (no toys or snacks).

**Planning, prepping, coordinating, and organizing from the ground up the program for our Ward Christmas party.  Unfortunately the party got rescheduled because of the ice storm and became a luncheon instead of a dinner but the turnout was still great and the program went off without a hitch (considering there were no practices).  I wanted to avoid any run throughs because I didn't want to hassle with people's schedules so I tried to make the program very clear and the order of the parts/performances very easy to understand.  We did a slide show of Christmas pictures, some which included ward members, that were projected during each performance.  In between performances, there was a script and story being told of a family sitting a talking about the meaning of Christmas.  I was so fortunate to have a member of our ward who is a lighting and sound expert and agreed to help me.  I could not have done it without him. I was definitely bummed when the party got rescheduled because I just wanted it to be done.  When it did finally come, I was relieved all the stress and worry were overwith.  I have a feeling it won't be my last program I plan...  I might need to hold on to that script.

**Driving down to the Dallas temple with the kids for the first time.  We looked at the nativity set  on the temple grounds and hurried to take pictures because it was freezing cold that day.  The kids were excited to see the temple and the Angel Moroni up close.

**Making Clark's favorite chocolate pudding pie for Christmas Eve.  Since I wasn't making the pumpkin roll, I consulted Clark's mom about how to make the pie.  She graciously agreed to divulge her secret and Leah assisted me in making our first one.  As always, Leah was so proud afterward but wouldn't even come near it when it was time for tasting and eating.  No chocolate/sugar/sweets for that girl.  She gags it up.  So weird.

**Reading our favorite Christmas book.  We purchased 'A Christmas Dress for Ellen' (a book retold my President Monson) several years ago because it is one of the most touching stories we've ever heard. Clark and I cannot get through it without crying.  It's going to become one of those books that our kids dread each year because Mom and Dad just cry through it.  We love it though.  Makes you really think about the meaning of Christmas.

**Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city to go spend Christmas in Southern Oklahoma.  The five of us drove three hours north to a beautiful log cabin hidden in the trees.  The cabin was awesome!  It had everything we needed including robes, a hot tub, a jungle gym and playhouse for the kids, DirectTV, and king sized beds.  We brought our own Christmas tree to set up and decorate although there was already a tree set up at the cabin.  The kids received new ornaments this year (Superman, Batman, and Cinderella) and both superheroes broke after being dropped on the wooden floor.  Thank goodness for Superglue!  I loved the staircase and just wanted to sing Christmas songs from it every time I went up or down.  We played Dominoes, pool, Chutes and Ladders, Connect 4, and completed a puzzle.  Seriously, the cabin had everything.  In the mornings we played in the hot tub and the kids LOVED it.  We went for walks, make more rice krispies, and watched a ton of Christmas movies.  Hallmark channel anyone?  Clark and I watched two movies on Christmas Eve and started a third but had to call it quits because we knew our Christmas morning would be early.  The kids barely made it through one story on Christmas Eve before collapsing into bed......at 5:30pm.  However, that made for a very peaceful evening complete with homemade Cafe Rio, sparkling cider, and chocolate pudding pie.  Add some Hallmark movies in and it's pretty much a perfect Christmas Eve.  

**Watching Polar Express for the first time with the kids.  Then watching it SIX more times....in a week!  Ha!  They just loved it so much and I knew we wouldn't watch it after Christmas so I threw all judgement and caution out the window and happily agreed to let them watch it if they asked.  Of course it was usually broken up into three or four separate segments and we always fast forwarded through a big section in the middle that's kind of dark and scary.  I tell you, that sure is a magical movie though.  We even went out one afternoon to the dollar store and bought our own bells.  The kids loved ringing them and IClark and I claimed we couldn't hear them which made the bells all the more special.  Although Christmas is over, they are all still sleeping with their bells.

**Presenting the kids with fun, new toys on Christmas.  The only presents we brought to the cabin were some Citiblocks.  The blocks are great but do require some imagination and patience.  The kids were interested for a short time then wanted to do something else.  Clark sure has enjoyed them though!  The kids will appreciate them soon enough.  Along with presents from friends and grandparents opened later in the day, we felt very blessed and fortunate...and tired.  We had woken up at 5am, cooked german pancakes, played with toys, played in the hot tub, packed, drove three hours, unpacked, skyped with lots of family members, opened gifts, and still had to put the kids to bed.  They got cereal for dinner and we couldn't get them in bed fast enough.  It was a WONDERFUL day.



Even though it seems as if we were busy with many fun and exciting things, it really was just a normal month with the normal fighting, time outs, and bedtime struggles.  It really didn't feel busy at all.  In fact, it felt like it moved incredibly slow because I was just anxious to get away to our Christmas cabin.  But there is just something about Christmas.  And even though our kids kind of understand Santa and all that stuff, they do understand who Jesus is.  They understand showing love and giving.  They understand good feelings, spending time with family, and learning to be patient.  We don't have the best decorations or movies and we are not always the best gift-givers, but we love Christmas because it makes our home feel different and really focuses our discussions, scripture reading, prayers, and hearts on what is most important.  Now the challenge is to keep that focus all year round.  A good new-years resolution I suppose.  ;)

Our family pictures are included in this post.  These were taken by our friends on a very cold and windy morning.  I'm forever grateful they came and did these for us.

2013 sure was a good one.