I can count to diez!

I will eventually get caught up and do an actual post about D's preschool promotion, but gotta get this story down before I forget.  On Friday he and I were standing in line at the store and a hispanic woman was in front of us talking on her cell phone (in Spanish).  D looked at her intently for a minute and then walked up in front of her so she was facing him and started singing this song:

She started laughing (whew) and he couldn't have been more proud!

Rapunzel!

Up With Kids did a spoof on Rapunzel this year.  AJ main part was "Auntie Morgana" (dressed in dark red with the shawl on her head and sunglasses).  She also performed in the gypsy number (blue dress with apron) and in the king's court (green dress).  She did a great job and had a lot of fun!

Grandpa, Grandma, Amber, and Marcus came to watch.  AJ was SO happy they came.

Dipping pretzels

AP's new favorite treat (to make and eat) is chocolate covered pretzels.  I bought the white chocolate melts to use in some temple molds I bought for conference weekend but we didn't get to it, so we did pretzels instead.  We did some with just chocolate and added sprinkles to others.  So fun, easy, and yummy!

Summertime...

Here is AJ on our way home after her school's country fair last Friday.  I love the windblown hair, the facepaint, the wristband, and the BIG thing of soda in hand.  It just makes me think summer and fun and I am soooo looking forward to that!

Mother's Day

My most wonderful husband gave me Saturday morning off and Sunday morning he made me stay in bed while he and the kids made breakfast.  We had scrambled eggs with bacon, toast, and orange juice.

 D made me this card at preschool.  The happy child is him.  The crazy frazzled woman with the "hypno-eye" is me.  Makes me laugh.

And his sweet little hand print makes me smile.  What a treasure!

 AJ made her card at school with crayons, sandpaper, and an iron.  

And her sweet note!  The picture at the bottom is of me :)

My friend Stephanie did a blog post where she compared Mother's Day to asparagus.  It echos my sentiments exactly, and although it hasn't been every year, this year it was delicious and satisfying.  Thank you to my wonderful family for treating me so well on Mother's Day!  

Baby gift

A little accordian album I made to give as a baby gift from the Relief Society Presidency. 

Aspergers.

What is it?  An autism spectrum disorder characterized by sensory processing deficits that make it difficult (nearly impossible) for my child to integrate into the social world.  It has been such a struggle as we have tried to help him, to teach him, to give him opportunities.  I don't know whether to continue to push him into a regular "mainstream" setting or to isolate him. I know the general public would prefer I do the latter, but if I do how will he ever have the opportunity to learn to function in society?  I used to pray that this trial would be taken from us.  That somehow we could figure it out, that he would be "healed."  Then I came to realize that healing was not going to come in the form that I want.  That, for us, we still have a lot to learn about people and ourselves and our trial is about acceptance and understanding of our mortal experience and all of it's challenges.   But we still need help and I don't know where to turn for understanding.  I read, I pray, I ponder.  We have sought professional help numerous times only to be told they don't know how or can't help us with our particular issues.  The school administration doesn't know what to do with him and I understand their frustration in having to deal with parents whose children don't understand AP or his issues.  He is bullied daily.  A lot of it real, some of it perceived.  So do I homeschool him to protect him and others?  Do we send him to a private school where there is even less tolerance for misbehavior?  Where he has a better chance of protection from bullying but a greater chance of being expelled when he does react.  I don't know!  None of the options are ideal, but then I guess that is just true to life.  It is such a struggle.  But I am stronger than I was 5 years ago.  Is he?  I think so.  But, I still feel so inadequate a lot of the time, and it is hard to know what to do...

CraZy life! But so blessed.

What a week!  R.S. activity Tuesday night, welcoming the graduating laurels Wednesday night, tending kids while gathering cookbook orders and money all day Thursday (dealing with a livid sister who was not happy about how we handled the whole thing almost put me in tears), trying to rearrange visiting teaching assignments (again), trying to come up with a lesson to teach on Sunday and having total brain freeze every time I sit down to the computer, forgetting it was dress rehearsal week for AJ's play and that she was supposed to show up "in uniform," running the cotton candy machine at AJ's school fundraiser Friday night, hours of homework trying to get AP caught up so he doesn't fail math (almost put me in tears again), braving Costco on Saturday to pick up food for our Sunday Relief Society lesson, dropping it off at the church and making copies while I'm there, attended a renewal of vows/reception of a friend, sooooo behind on laundry, and dishes, and everything else house related, finally got "the meat" of my Relief Society lesson, but nervous of how it will all come out...  Life is crazy right now, but I am so grateful for the people I get to share it with!  Including these wonderful ladies who dressed up with me Wednesday night so I didn't have to be a total spaz on my own.  Love them!

Opinions Needed

We have 13 young women who will be graduating from high school at the end of the month and coming into Relief Society.  To welcome them in we asked their mothers to write down their testimonies as well as ways that Relief Society has blessed their lives and also asked them to invite any other women of influence in their daughters' lives to do the same.  We as a presidency also wrote them a letter and asked the bishop to do the same. My first counselor has been busy collecting and compiling these letters into a little book to be given to each girl along with a copy of Daughters in my Kingdom.  The Laurels are having a Mother/Daughter party this Wednesday and my presidency is going to the last 15 minutes of this activity to give them their books and welcome them.  So, I thought it would be fun if we dressed up in one of the following two ways:  Dress in the attire the we would have worn at their age (we would end up with somone from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s) and say, "We my be a little out dated but we still know how to have fun!" I think the girls would get a kick out of this and help them see that Relief Society is not boring.  Then we could talk about how Relief Society has helped us mature in the gospel and as women.  Or I thought we could each dress up in a way to reflect our individual personalities (for example, I would come looking a little desheveled and acting very spacey, hee, hee and my first counselor, who is very organized and on top of things would come with her hair perfect, looking all professional, and a clipboard in hand...) and talk about how Relief Society is a place for everyone, no matter our various personalities or imperfections, and that even though we are different we all share a love of the Savior, the gospel, and each other.  My counselors/secretary said they are happy to do whatever and to just tell them what to do.  SO, anyone think one idea is better than the other or that one might be more fun, influential, etc?  I would love input! Thanks :)

Deliberate mothering

Some time ago I was reading a blog post written by a friend where she defined the word "nurture" using the term, "deliberate mother" (if you are interested in her article you can read it here).  Her words really stuck with me and have served as a reminder that the most important thing I can do is focus on my children, with a concentrated effort to ensure I am giving them my time, attention, and best efforts as I teach and train.   But it is often so hard for me to take that time; to slow down, to be patient, and stay calm.  I realize I need to be more forgiving of their mistakes, smile more, and encourage more.  I'm trying to let the little things go and not waste time worrying, or being frustrated.  And yet I struggle with this!  I try to enjoy and appreciate my children, and focus on teaching, training, loving, accepting, and appreciating them. But I admit that I have to remind myself to be a "deliberate mother," fairly often. I don't have a hard time enjoying the quiet moments.  I love to snuggle my children.  My favorite time of the day is bedtime when I have their attention and they are content and willing to let me cuddle them as we read together.  What I am not good at is managing the rest of the day, making sure that I am creating peace as we go along and taking advantage of teaching moments.  It seems there are so many demands on my attention and time and it's too easy to get distracted when I do have a quiet moment... especially by things like blogs, pinterest, online shopping, researching this or that... ummm, I guess in a nutshell the internet and all of it's amazing tips and tricks.  Then I came across this article several weeks ago (which yes, I admit sheepishly, I found while on the computer) and it really made me think and motivated me once again to be a more deliberate mother.  To spend less time looking for new things to do and really focus on the little persons that I have to teach and cuddle and cherish right now.  To appreciate it when they ask me for help, or food, or stories, realizing that right now they not only need me, they want me, and when I take the time to recognize it, what I really need and want is not more tips, not more projects, not more information, what I really need and want is to make the most of the time I have with them.

It's a Zoo

D had his preschool fieldtrip to the Zoo this last week.  The peacock was the first animal we saw.  D was interested, but as always I was fascinated.  I love all of those beautifully bewitching feathers!

My kids have always loved the lion drinking fountain.  D loved drinking from it, but was not interested in me taking a picture of him doing so.

 He liked the live elephants,

 but LOVED the big statue by the enclosure more.  I could barely coax him away.  I'm sure he could have spent quite a while playing under it and tracing all of the cool designs carved into it.

Talking to the giraffes: "Um, hi, it's me [D].  I love you giraffe.  Ok bye now giraffe."

 Karie (D's preschool teacher who is also my secretary) had driven with me because we were going to stop off at the hospital to visit someone on our way home.  So Paula was going to take D home with her.  Paula had extra tickets for the carousel and train so D went with Jessica and Cameron. What a fun day with friends!