I'm OFFICIALLY old!

Age doesn't mean anything. I remember being in college and going on a road trip to Utah with my oldest sister. On the way, we stopped by a fruit stand to let her kids stretch their legs. While we were walking around the stand, the owner asked if we were sisters. We said yes, and somehow in our conversation it came up that he thought I was the older one. My sister is 8 years older than I am! Then I can remember on my 27th bday, I was getting sung to in Primary, when the chorister asked how old I was. I answered 27. She looks at me and laughs, "Yeah right. How old are you." I had to answer two more times before she believed me. Supposedly she thought I was at least 33 because I had four children. The chorister turned out to be just a year younger than me, but she only had one child. Well now I am starting to fit my age. I turned the big 30 yesterday!! It's supposed to be my Golden year since I turned 30 on the 30th. We'll see, but I'm excited for this new stage in my life anyway. I just hope the next 30+ years go just as well.

Family Picture

We had our family picture taken the first weekend in March!!! The picture at the top of the blog is it! Don't we look great :) Sorry we didn't get any extras. The school was having a fundraiser where we could get 2 8x10s for $10, so one goes to my house and the other goes to Aaron's work. I would like to have my brother-in-law take our picture again so we can give pictures to the grandpa and grandma's. Again, sorry but you can look at my blog anytime you want to see our beautiful faces :)

Random video

I thought this was cute. You know, a balloon with pop just by looking at it, unless you want it to. Then you could drive your car over it, and it would still be there. I like how Calista is plugging her ears as she's trying to pop this balloon. Sorry, it's pretty dark. The balloon must've had a little hole in it, because at the end, as she stands on it, it loses all the air.

Random pictures

I found these two pictures and thought I'd tell about them. Samuel came home from school looking like this....

I didn't even know it was the 100th day of school. Usually they send notes home and ask the kids to bring 100 something, but not this year. It was a surprise! He wanted me to wear them next, so I did for a little bit. Now the chain is hanging in his room, because you can't just throw something like that away!!

Ellen was in the bathroom one day and said, "Mom come here!" So I come in to the bathroom and she says, "Mom, I can wink!" I said, "Oh yeah? I want to see." And this is what she did...

She's pretty clever for a two year old (she was two when I took this picture). And guess what... she can do it with her other eye too! She thinks she's pretty special. She was so excited and told everyone we were around that she could WINK!

Here She Comes!!

Sarah's on the move now! She's been able to roll over for a long time, but never used it as a source of mobility. But then one day it clicked! We were sitting on the floor, trying to play board games, and Sarah started grabbing pieces. So I pick her up and put her behind me. Within a minute, there she was again! Since this is all new, the girls and I went into the back room to play UNO while Aaron was on the phone. I took Sarah with us because she's starting to find her voice. I forgot that she could move, and the UNO cards were a great incentive. When she really wants something, she's pretty fast. It's fun to see her scooting around.

More on Sarah's voice. The other day at dinner, Sarah started to sing, "Ahhhhhhh!" The kids decided to have fun, so they copied her. That got Sarah's attention, so she does it again. They all repeat this process over and over. Each time, Sarah gets louder and squeals a little with each "ahhh" as she flaps her arms and legs. She really enjoyed being able to "communicate." Our house got pretty loud, but it was cute to see how much she was enjoying herself.

Don't be mad mommy!

Ellen is quite the character. Ellen's morning chore this week was clearing the table. By Thursday she informed me that she was TIRED of clearing the table. I tried to tell her that I was sorry, but that was her chore for the rest of the week. By Saturday, she was REALLY TIRED of clearing the table. After asking her several times to clear the table, I was getting a little unhappy. I asked her if she wouldn't feel so TIRED if I patted her bum. She decided that wouldn't help. Then I saw some baby spoons that she'd gotten out. I didn't want Samuel to "catch her" and get 10 pennies, so I asked her to put them away and then finish clearing the table before I got back in from the talking to daddy in the shop. When I got back, she'd started clearing the table, but hadn't touched the spoons. I talked to her and told asked her if she wanted Samuel to take her pennies. She said no. So then I told her that I was going to get upset if she didn't listen to me. She looks at me with her big brown eyes and says,

Ellen: "Mommy, don't be mad."
Mom: "I don't want to get upset, but if you can't listen to mommy, it makes me upset."
Ellen: "Mommy, don't get mad. Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to be happy! Don't be mad mommy!"

I then talk with her and tell her, "Yes Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to be happy, but they also want us to be obedient and help out in families." She ended up finishing the table and putting away her spoons before Samuel came in and took some pennies!

Who is setting the example around here?

This has happened a couple of times, and I have been really impressed and humbled. The account that I'm going to retell is the latest one. We've been doing this cleaning game, and Samuel is the "clean police." He started with a handicap this week of only 20 pennies, where his Jacque, Calista and Ellen had 35, 35, and 50, respectively. Well we counted yesterday and he already had 86! We've also changed the game where we can earn pennies by doing different things around the house. Yesterday, Samuel ran in saying, "I caught Calista." After they say this, I ask how, to make sure it is a legitimate claim. He said that he found her coat. I asked where it was and he said it was behind her. Earlier I had seen her sitting in a chair with her coat lying behind her in the chair. I told him it didn't count since she hadn't actually left the coat. He got frustrated because he'd already put her coat away, and walked off angry and crying. I felt bad for her, but that's how it goes. A bit later, Samuel comes out of his room a happier person and says, "Mom I read my scriptures." You could've picked my jaw up off of the floor. This boy of mine is such a good example. When I'm angry and feeling that life isn't fair, I need to remember what Samuel did. That's the best way to get in a good mood. I love being a mother to my wonderful children who are such good examples of what I should be doing!