Charlie hits puberty

So, I'm not sure exactly when a dog hits puberty - but Charlie may be getting to that point. Just a quick story. Jeff and I are in another room this week when we hear Sami yell "Da-ad, Charlie is trying to ride on Josi's back." Sure enough, Charlie seemed to think that the little creature crawling around (Josi) was a romantic interest. Jeff said "looks like it's time to cut his nuts off" to which Max audible gasped and made the most horrified look I'd ever seen. Oh, what a moment!

Graduation

 

SO, Sami graduated from preschool today. We've done this before and I was just rushing about my morning like usual. It was just another thing on the spring calendar to cross off and move on. Well, Sami of course looked beautiful. And I sat there and before long was crying. It really was a big deal. At first I was like "why am I emotional? buck-up Cami Jill." and then I thought "no, I don't have too. There are very few mommy paydays and this is one of them. I am going to enjoy it and I'll cry if I want to." So I did. I really won't have her for long, will I? I wanted to take a moment and tribute Samantha Joy Hurst. Sami is tough, Sami is determined, Sami is smart, Sami is very talented musically, Sami knows exactly what she wants, Sami can express very deep and emotional feelings, Sami loves to create, Sami is tactile (she loves the feel of sand, of water, of skin, of pudding - she just wants to get in there and feel), Sami is a good swimmer, Sami is independent, Sami is funny. We sure do love you Samantha Joy Hurst!

What;s under your kids bed?

 

So, Max and Sami clean their rooms about twice a week. Prior to last Saturday I would have said that Max kept the cleanest room. It usually looks pretty tidy - he makes one heck of a bed - and he is usually the fastest. So, last Saturday we once again were cleaning house and my "mommy sence" alerted me to have a peek under the bed. Oh my heck! No wonder the kid is so fast, he just has to shove everthing under his bed!

My 16 stones

Okay, so sometimes I write everyday and others....It looks like it's been a month. And what have we been doing this month? TRACK BREAK! Yes, we are some of the lucky few who get 3 1/2 weeks off of school every 8 weeks or so. In the past track breaks have not been the time where I would have wanted a hidden video camera in the past. By week 3 I have resorted to some interesting mommy tactics. So, as I prepared for this current track break, I did a lot of praying. For real. I planned an activity every tuesday and thursday like swimming or Chuck E Cheese or the zoo. That really helped. But what helped the most happended during our Stake Conference the weekend before track break started. On Friday night I had this dream that Jeff and I were cleaning the house and we found this empty room we had never known was there. We were so excited - it just needed a little work and it would be a perfect play room for our kids and their friends. I woke up and thought "that was weird". Then we went to the adult session of Stake Conference (which is always my favorite becuase I actually get to listen). Elder Walker was there and just fabulous. It isn't so much what he said but what the spirit said to me while he spoke. I was more focused and introspective than I have been in years. Pretty much I went home determined limit the influence of the world in my home and make our house a home built for children. It's funny how the spirit works but it was very clear that in no general terms I needed to turn off the TV. Okay, so the only time my kids are NOT fighting is when they are watching TV - so logically this made no sence but I committed to doing it. We would watch no TV except for out kids one and only time slot of 4-5 pm so they could rest and I could get dinner ready. That was directive #1. Directive #2 was a bit more interesting. Remember that dream I had? Well, I have been saving money from birthdays and left-over weekly budget and such becasue I wanted to buy a new set of furniture and make our front living room all pretty and nice and special. Well, I was pondering during that meeting what on earth the children would do with the TV turned off. When it absolutely struck me over the head. "Cami, why on earth do you want a nice fancy room?" I began listing reasons such as "that's what front rooms are for" and "I deserve something nice" but when it came right down to it - I wanted a nice front room as a "stage" that made our house look nice and orderly to other people who came to the front door. To impress other people. Because really we would never use it except for our home teachers. And lets face it - Home teachers aren't a good reason to buy new furniture. So - I remembered that hidden room I found in my dream and realized that the front room WAS the room. So, we went home from the meeting and I told Jeff everything. His face was like "you got all that from the meeting?" and then he smiled and said to go ahead. The only condition was that I could only spend money on the new room that I has already saved or that I could get from selling stuff already in there. So, I worked fast (if you know me at all - that's one thing I've got down. I work fast!) I got everything gathered and over to my friends house who was having a garage sale THAT WEEKEND. On friday night, Jeff got too much of our enemy the "realism" bug. He was convinced that nothing would sell and that we would just be hauling it all back to our house on Saturday night. When I say haul - I mean haul. I found some awesome motivation to get rid of almost everything in light of this new room. So I kept my husband moving and my prayers going. That night the realism bug got me a bit too and as I fell to sleep I remember thinking "Okay Heavenly Father. You told me to do this. I know that. And now I am doing it. So here are my 16 stones - please light them up. This is all I can think of to make this work, please make it work." Guess what? I sold just about everything! Jeff couldn't believe it. It really was a tender mercy. Then track break started. We watched no TV. Much to my surprise, my children began doing things they've never done before - they began playing with each other. They went outside!! Now in our house going outside had almost become a punishment. But there my children were - waking up in the morning and running out back to play all on their own. Up until this point sibling rivalry has been one of the continuous trials in our home. One thursday we went to the zoo and a young couple stopped me and asked "do your children always get along this well?" Now this was no tender mercy - this was an all out miracle! The Lord really does answer our prayers. And those answers really can change our homes. I now know this. It's amazing, a bit overwhelming, and humbling all at the same time.

So funny, So true!

You know those 20 minutes a day that you leave your children unsupervised so that you can go and take a shower? Well, if you're any kind of mom at all - you know that you just do what you've got to do and clean it up later. At least that's my philosophy when it comes to a little mommy time. Once, when Max was 4 I got out of the shower and saw smoke billowing up the stairs. I was so scared, I ran downstairs to find Max obliviously sitting in a smoke filled room watching Aurthur. The source of the smoke was the toaster. Max had decided to make himself breakfast, turned the toaster up to 12 - put in the bread - and gotten distracted by the TV. So, last week when I got out of the shower and noticed a funny smell I knew that Max was up to something. I came downstairs and Max proudly said "Look what I made". He had cooked a potato in the microwave (hence the smell) and then shoved forks and pens and colored pencils and marshmellow chicks into the potato and created his very own "Potato Man". Ahhh, what a creative genius!

Josi's TV

It has been so nice outside this week! We've been eating dinner (well the kids look at dinner) and then run out to play. Of course that leaves me with clean-up duty. So, I turned Josi around in her highchair so she could have something to look at while I cleaned. I think she sat like that for an hour. She was so enthralled and entertained watching the kids run back and forth and jump on the trampoline. She would kick her feet and giggle. She is just so sweet! Her birthday is coming up and I'm having a hard time letting her grow up. I could keep her as my baby forever!