You asked for it...

Well, Brad did.

This is one of my favorites. I asked her why she wasn't singing and she said that she is shy when I am there.  Little stinker.  I know she knows every word, as I always hear her singing them at home, but, of course, if I ask her to sing it for me she won't. 
They also sing a pretty cool one about making good choices and following Jesus, then the chorus says something like, "and if the Devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack!"
Then they shout, "Ouch!" and raise their little bums off the floor. Wish I had some footage of that one.

Graduation

Macie graduated from the Church Of Christ Preschool Monday night.  Our neighbor teaches there, and seeing how she was the only person we had met when we moved here, it made sense.  It turned out to be such a good experience for Mace.  She made new friends, learned a lot, and absolutely adored her teachers. I worried about her because she is surprisingly timid and nervous in many situations.  She doesn't even like to be alone in rooms of our house.  In fact, she often coerces Charlotte to go upstairs, downstairs, or in the bathroom with her so she isn't alone.

-With her teachers, Ms. Misty and Ms. Paula-

I love this little girl.  She is the funniest kid. 
She always says that she doesn't want to be a grown-up and that she wants to be a kid forever.
(deliberate mothering goal: make adulthood and parenting more enticing.) 
Recently she told Todd that she doesn't want to get married.  Todd replied that when you grow up it is fun to get married.  Then, in all seriousness and with a hint of utter terror, Macie asked, "But what if I marry someone who only speaks Spanish?"

On Macie's Last day at school, Spangle and Daisy Mae the clowns visited the students.  Macie told me over and over how wonderful they were, so when we found out they would be at Chick Fillet last night, we headed on over.  The girls had fun getting face paint and balloon animals.  Todd had fun eating all of their Icedream while they waited in line. Carv was tired.  He didn't seem to have much fun at all.

I am a Mother.

I feel fortunate and blessed to have children.  I always assumed I would spend my years bearing and mothering children, and I am thankful that it was a fairly easy process for us.  Being a mom is everything I thought it would be, and a little bit of some things I didn't think it would be. 

I can say that I put a lot of effort into raising my kids, but lately I have wondered if I put enough thought into it.  My cousin, Rose, really got me thinking about this.

I go about my days mothering, but I rarely start my day with a goal  in mind that doesn't have to do with laundry or other household tasks.   Of course I want my kids to be honest and loving and hard working, but what am I doing to get them there?  I feel like I need a plan.

  My plan already includes things like having dinner together as a family, holding family home evening, attending church together, etc..   But I need to be more deliberate in daily mothering.  I need to listen more.  I need to focus on each child and make the one-on-one time I have with each child quality time.  I need to say yes more.   

I am going to start by making a"deliberate mothering" goal each day.  I will write it down - or maybe tell Todd each morning; that way I am accountable to more than a piece of paper.  

Most importantly, I need to be more sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit.   I know that this would solve the majority of my concerns.  If I am living righteously and listening to the Spirit, I know that Heavenly Father will guide me in what I do. He will tell me in my heart and mind when I need to drop what I am doing and listen, or what I need to do to comfort one of the kids.  He will guide me in all I do and say.

 Can't really go wrong there. 

So really, I probably need a daily "deliberate mothering" goal and a daily spiritual goal. 

(Ugh.  This is not how I had this planned out in my mind when I started typing.)

So, here goes...

Go Big or Go Home

Last weekend I bought my first pair of heels.  I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well go all out.

Visitors

Last week we found three ducks resting in the shade under our front tree.  Our neighborhood has three or four ponds throughout, but we aren't that close to any of them.  I suppose these ducks had to waddle down the block and around the corner to get to us.

We left them alone for as long as the girls could possibly handle, then we headed outside with bread in hand.  The girls fed the ducks all their bread and then tried to get close.  Since these aren't exactly Idaho Falls Snake River Ducks, they didn't like the idea of the kids getting too close. 

Despite our overzealousness, they have been back three times. 

We fed them again earlier this week. 

Yesterday afternoon we noticed them resting again.  The girls all gathered at the front door window to get a closer look.  After awhile, those ducks woke up and made their way right up to our front door.  They waddled around on our doorstep pecking and quacking.  At that point I would not have been surprised if they had pecked their little beaks on our front door!  It was pretty funny. 

I told the girls we needed to name our new visitors. 

Is it so sad that I immediately thought of Rob, Big and Drama?  Yes.  Yes, it is. 

More cultured people are thinking of names from politics, religion or Shakespeare.  Me?  Not so much. 

Unfortunately we can't go with my trio, as there are two male ducks and one female.  I am resisting the urge to go with Rob, Big and Chantel. I'm okay with this combo, as I don't really care for Drama, and Chantel totally won me over after repeatedly getting smacked in the face with the dodge ball.  Girl Power.

My Baby Sis

Morgan and Emily pictures are a dime a dozen these days, but this one was too good to pass up.

Friday Night

We tried to spice up our branch talent show.  I was most proud that Charlotte and Macie participated after being grumpy during all of our practices.  I found my jumpsuit at Goodwill a couple of months ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to put it to use. Todd's wig was supposed to be a mullet, but he just ended up looking like Howard Stern. My only regret is that we didn't get a little afro for Carver. 

 He rocked out pretty hard.

It was a fun activity.  While not very well attended, those there had a great time.  We had some singing, some dancing, some poetry and some tasty treats.  It was a good Friday night.