Is My Camera Haunted?

I took about 20 pictures this afternoon of my children and their friends. I had the intention of sharing them with the other parents, since I was the only one with a camera (how the tides have shifted!!) but when I went to download them tonight, here's what they all looked like:


"What's wrong with my camera?" I exclaimed. "Why does it look like there's a ghost in every picture?!" Kelly grabbed the camera and opened the lense. Tiny toddler fingerprints all over it. Grrrr. Apprently dropping the camera isn't the only issue I have to watch out for.

Happy Easter!

In our attempts to find an Easter egg hunt that didn't conflict with naptime, we attended two different events (and were thwarted both times). Too long of a story to explain. But the upside is that we got multiple Easter Bunny pics. I couldn't get a smile out of Benjamin, likely due to the nap issue, but he was more than willing to pose. I should have gotten Bella in the pics too, but both times that the opportunity arose, she and Kelly were elsewhere.

Despite the focus on the bunny and the eggs today, may we always remember the true reason for this holiday. As Benjamin says, we must "focus on Jesus." I am so thankful for my Savior. Here's a wonderful link a friend sent me today that does a wonderful job of bearing testimony: None Were With Him

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Benjamin was outside playing today when he informed Kelly that he needed to go potty. He came in, asked for help getting his pants and diaper off, then sat on the toilet and went, all without coercion. It was better than Christmas. The light at the end of the tunnel just got a little brighter! Of course, it's not perfect yet, so I laid him down in another room and put on another diaper, leaving Bella unattended for a few moments. Unbeknownst to me, she apparently heard the cheering in the bathroom and went in to see for herself what the cause of the party was. When I finished replacing Benjamin's diaper a few minutes later and went to check on her, this is what I found:


So I may be saving money on diapers soon, but it will be made up for in the cost of toilet paper.

Mud Pie, Anyone?

Liberally add water, mix, then sit down. In other words, why I bring a change of clothes everywhere we go.


Notice how his friends Danny and Paul are carefully outside the sandbox playing, while he's sitting smack in the sludge? This from the same boy who hates getting food on his hands. How does that work?

How Did You Like Conference?

I look forward to General Conference for weeks prior. However, it's not the actual moment of conference I await with barely contained excitement. It's the talks which I will listen to hours later on the internet, after the kids are in bed. Because during conference, this is what we're doing:








I'm assuming we're not the only ones who have a reverence problem. Bella is okay, but watching conference with Benjamin is impossible. He's good for about 3 minutes and then his ability to listen in peace is exhausted. We are then faced with a choice - A. spend the next 2 hours shushing him and getting upset, thereby not hearing the talks anyway or B. having fun family time together and watching the whole thing in peace from 8pm until midnight. So, because we're no masochists, we chose option B and had a wonderful relaxing 2 sessions back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday evening. I saw some very clear recurring themes in what they discussed and certainly came away with some clear ideas on how to improve my life. However, ironically there was one talk on the very reason thing I'd been dealing with that day - Sis. Lifferth's talk on respect and reverence. She gave a wonderful talk on teaching children respect and reverence. I had some clear insights while listening but still, I was left with a "but how?" feeling. She made the point of having reasonable expectations. Expecting a two year old to sit still for a 2 hour conference session isn't reasonable, I understand that, but how about a 5 minute family home evening lesson or a 1 minute family prayer? How about a 60 minute sacrament meeting or a 10 minute family dinner? I can't remember a Sunday where I didn't attend "the church of the foyer" as one friend calls it. Family home evenings have also become increasingly difficult. It's exacerbated by the fact that we have it 30 minutes before bed time, but Kelly's not home any earlier, so I don't know how to fix that part of it.

Until I figure it out or he grows up and solves this issue for himself, I think the point that I need for remember is her statement that reverence is based in love of the Savior and so the teaching thereof should also be based in love. Teaching reverence through harshness merely begets resentment. We must be the examples and pray that as the child grows, he will follow. I think I need to learn patience as he learns self-control and we'll both end up at reverence.

Happy Birthday Kelly!

It's Kelly's birthday today. We had a party last night and borrowed a friend's Wii for the occassion. We had so much fun. Then today before we had to return it, we let Benjamin play with it. He has never played a video game on anything other than a computer with a mouse, so this was a brand new experience for him and he loved it. He needed a little help getting the hang of it, but his enthusiasm was contagious. We played clear until bedtime. This really is the perfect way to do it - borrow the system, play until you're sick of it, and then return it. Although I really kind of miss it already. :)



These pictures are mostly for my mom. She sent Bella this adorable rain coat.



To end, a picture of the macho man on his scooter.