Keeping Clara happy

Xiao Xia (our old babysitter and Chinese tutor) helped me start this project before Clara was even born. However, it was shoved to the top back of her closet admist the chaos of having a new baby. I just recently found it thanks to my E.E.E. plan. We should get a few months enjoyment out of it before the new baby boy arrives - the boys hope to replace it with some frogs and fish orgami as the pink cranes seem too girly. Clara clearly loves it and we can hear her in her crib saying "birdie, birdie". What is even more amazing is the way their shadows dance just around 4:00 when its time to get her out of her crib.

Next time we will not use 12x12 cardstock as it was a bit heavy and hard to balance properly. Also the cardstock was quite difficult to fold and we encountered a few tears in our cranes. I'm on the hunt for some cool orgami paper for the boy version of this mobile.

Coping

This past week we were hit with all sorts of bugs and viruses. I've been sleeping as much as possible and doing a ton of laundry (due to the little kids' stomach flu). One good thing is no one has much of an appetite so I haven't had to cook much. The other fun thing was laying around together watching hours of Planet Earth.

Clara has perfected her first phrase "Momma hol jou" as she follows me around the house crying and whinning. Thank goodness for the Beco carrier - just what I needed to free up my hands and catch up on housework. And thank goodness for baby Einstein shows - the only other thing that would keep her happy today.

Shadow Dancing

Can you tell we are getting a little restless this winter? This is what we do around 5:30 pm when the sun shines through our west facing window. I'll have to post another shadow dancing picture in a couple of months when my belly gets really big.

Clara loves her big brother

By James

Playing outside is fun. Especially when there is about ten inches of packing snow. One day I was playing with my brothers outside and I asked if either of them wanted a whitewash. Both of them said "no". Then I saw Clara watching us play from the window. I shouted "Clara wants a whitewash"!! I formed a snowball about 4" in diameter, and then threw it at the window where Clara was looking. I heard her squeak through the window. My brothers were laughing so hard. I laughed a bit after that and I heard Clara laughing through the window. I threw lots of snowballs at the window and Clara squeaked so loud. My brothers were laughing so hard I stopped. Then Mommy told me not throw snowballs at the windows unless I wanted to wash the window.

Pentagon Punch-Out

A complete change and almost miracle has occured in our home this past week. Three mornings in a row James, William, and Peter have been independent in getting up, dressed, beds made, room cleaned, teeth brushed, with morning prayers said all before 7:45 am.

This little icon was designed on Adobe then laminated and pinned up in their room as a reminder. The motivation? Punch-out cards. They get one punch for every task completed and double punches if done by 7:45. They are also eligible for an extra punch if they help out another individual who may be struggling with their tasks. At the end of the week we will count up the number of punches and the boys will have an opportunity to "shop" the treasure box filled with all sorts of surprises each with a price.

Originally, Paul and I thought to motivate the boys with allowance but we found too many dollar bills laying around all crumpled up in balls, and folded into fans and bowties. The idea of the "shop" came from my experience teaching english to young children in China. They were given a little plastic token everytime they repeated a new language concept and once a week given a chance to "shop" for treasures. (I passed on the tokens for the boys because I knew they would be all over the house in no time!)

I was amazed how well the motivation worked with those cute little Chinese kids. I don't know why I didn't think to do this same system with my own kids any earlier.

President Hinckley

Tonight for family night we will be talking about President Hinckley . We will miss him. I am inspired by his example of optimism and hardwork. I am also grateful for his many teachings and devotions that have helped me develop and grow closer to our Savior.

I was especially impacted by his message in the last December Ensign regarding children and our responsibilty as parents. Here are a few short paragraphs from that message.

It is so obvious that the great good and the terrible evil in the world today are the sweet and the bitter fruits of the rearing of yesterday’s children. As we train a new generation, so will the world be in a few years. If you are worried about the future, then look to the upbringing of your children. Wisely did the writer of Proverbs declare, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

E. T. Sullivan once wrote these interesting words: “When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.”1

And those babies, I should like to add, will become forces for good or ill, depending in large measure on how they are reared. The Lord, without equivocation, has declared, “I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40).

Gordon B. Hinckley, “These, Our Little Ones,” Ensign, Dec 2007, 4–9

"Free Play"

In our home everyone loves and lives for "free play". Once all the moring jobs are done the kids get the privilage of choosing whatever they want to play with. Pictured here is Maryanna in bubbleland, James hole punching and reinforcing his 2008 monthly calanders which he helped design on Power Point, Clara rummaging through all the books within her reach, and William and Peter deep in a shark feeding show that they created for all their Playmobil figures.

Mommy's "free play" includes a mixture of laundry, cooking, sewing, reading, blogging, and talking on the phone... all the while keeping a close eye and sharp ear on the kids lost in their own little worlds. Not pictured is Maryanna soaking wet with puddles all over the kitchen floor, James having a bit of a melt down when he realized there was no orange cardstock for his October Calander, Clara ripping books, William and Peter screaming when Clara began sucking on one of their Playmobil's heads, and all the kids whinning when it was announced that "free play" was over and it was time to clean up.

Today is another morning of "free play".... James is trying to make a tower with playing cards, William and Peter are at the bathroom sink once again playing with Playmobil - this time the show is called "Mario and the melted hockey rink", Maryanna said "I just watching James" occasionally knocking down his creations, and Clara is toddling around with a few dominos in one hand a matchbox car in the other. I'm just laying on the couch because frankly, I'm tired and a bit run down. But I will say watching the kids up close - just playing has been far more entertaining than all my other "free play" options. Maybe tomarrow I will even get down on the carpet with my big belly and play with them...then when the kids announce they are hungry and its time for lunch I may even start whinning myself.