Budgeting

It’s funny how Facebook cuts into my blogging. I hardly ever post here anymore, because everything gets posted there. I need to download all my status and post the appropriate ones here. But I digress….

Today’s post will be way to long for a Facebook status, which is why I’m writing here. It’s about going to the store with David, to do some Christmas shopping. You see, this morning, I came up with a great idea for him and Leah: first, I’d go to the bank and withdraw $40 in singles. Then I’d take them each to the store (separately, of course), hand them each twenty $1 bills, and allow them to pick out Christmas presents for each of the other four members of our nuclear family. Since Anna was already taking Leah shopping for birthday-party stuff, the opportunity was perfect for David to go first. (Naomi came, too, but she obviously didn’t know what was going on.)

When we first walked into the store, I asked David who he wanted to shop for, first. His response: “Naomi.” I then asked which part of the store he wanted to shop in, for Naomi. His response: “where the baby stuff is.” I figured the toy department would be a better bet, but he was in charge, so off we went. Turns out my son knew better than I.

As we entered the baby section, David’s eyes immediately caught a large baby toy on the top shelf. He was sold: “get that!” I informed him that that toy was $17, that if he bought that for Naomi, he’d only have $3 left for the entire rest of the family. He still wanted it, though, so I placed it in the cart, then counted aloud as I took $17 of his $20, one bill at a time. As he stood there with only $3 in his hand, the reality seemed to sink in a little. “Are you sure,” I asked him again, “that you want to get that big toy for Naomi, or would you like to look for something smaller, so you have more money for everyone else?”

He understood, replying, “something smaller.” I placed the large item back on the shelf, returned his $17, and guided him to some smaller toys. He first chose a $10 item, but when I asked if he was sure, moved down to an $8 item. I repeated the earlier exercise, placing the $8 toy in the cart and counting eight of his dollars aloud, as I took them. I again asked if he was sure and pointed out a $4 toy. He loved the idea, exchanged the $8 toy for the $4 toy, and I returned four of the dollars I’d taken. He was elated and announced that next he wanted to shop for Leah. I asked him where; “the toy department” was his response. Smart kid.

As we walked down the aisles of the toy department, it was obvious that the lesson had sunken in. Each time he saw a toy that interested him for her, he’d ask how much it was. He smartly turned down the first toy, which was $55, but also turned down $25 and even $12 and $10 toys. I was incredibly proud of how well he understood the concept. He’s an amazing four-year-old! We finally settled on a $5 toy that we both thought Leah would like. That left him with $11 for Mom and Dad.

I won’t go into what he got for Anna, since she’ll probably read this entry, but suffice to say he found something quickly: the first thing he picked was within his budget, and I was rather impressed with his selection. I, though, was a bit harder to shop for: his first choice was a two-pack of 9-volt batteries, which I informed him was very nice, but probably not a good Christmas present. He persisted, though, at which  I  informed him that they were $7. So much for that idea! I also suggested that he might want to save his remaining bills and shop for me, with Mommy, some other time. He blatantly refused that idea, though, so I know exactly what I’m getting from him. ;-)

As we approached the register to pay, I realized that I hadn’t taught him about sales tax—nor need to, at this point. Thanks to the government, he actually wound up being 7¢ over budget. Oh, well. (Please don’t tell him; I snuck another dollar bill onto the counter, to cover it.) Regardless, he did a great job, and I just had to share the results. Good night, David, and I love you!

Calling

For a while now, I’ve received the occasional phone call at the office, where I pick up and find Leah or David on the other end. The calls are usually brief and include a request to bring such-and-such down to them, to play such-and-such game after work, etc.. Over the last week or so, though, the calls have become a lot more frequent. So yesterday, when I came downstairs to fulfill Leah’s request for a Band-Aid^®, I asked Anna, “Are you calling me on her behalf, or does she know how to call me, herself?”

Anna: “She knows how to do it, by herself. They both do.”

Me: “Really?”

David: “Yeah, Daddy. Watch. DAAAAADDDDDDYYYYY!!!!”

Ask a stupid question. ^_^

Eyes Wide Shut

A few minutes ago, I walked into David’s room. As I did, I heard his tiny voice: “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hey, David,” I replied.

“What’s up?” he asked. I couldn’t believe it. So simple. So like me. He’s definitely my son.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I told him.

He smiled so big. I leaned down and kissed him, told him to get some good rest, and quietly left the room.

I never saw his eyes open. :-)

Dream World

David came into our room at about 6:20 this morning and lay down in our bed. As I lay there with him, I decided to take the opportunity to have a conversation with him: nothing urgent, just keeping the lines of communication open. I asked him what he did yesterday, and after several false starts (including Wednesday’s preschool activity and last Friday’s family picnic in the park), he finally started down a very… um… interesting story.

“I saw a very friendly monster!”

“Really! What did he look like?”

“He was an orange drop!”

“Oh! Like a gumdrop?”

“Yeah!”

“And where was this monster?”

“He was walking across the cornfield.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

"Was this a dream you had?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. What was the monster’s name?”

“His… his name was David, too.”

“Really! He was David 2?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re David 1 and he’s David 2?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“And there was another monster!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And his name was David, too. And he was a blue drop.”

“Really? He was a blue gumdrop?”

“No, he was a blue rain drop.”

“Really! Could you see through him?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay.”

This conversation continued for quite a while, with David telling me about a few other gumdrop monsters in his dream: a green one named George; a purple one named Olivia; another purple one named Leah; and Leah’s twin sister, a red one named Carly. I asked, “And they were all coming across the cornfield together?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“And then there was a big farm monster that came and put his foot on all of them!”

“He stepped on them?”

“Yeah!”

“Wow!”

By this time, Anna was back: “What did the farm monster look like?”

David’s reply: “A FARM!!!”

Ask a silly question….

The Power of Prayer

In the last couple of months, David has really come into his own when it comes to prayer. He’s stopped screaming and refusing to do it, and he’s even beginning to use some of his own words instead of just spouting off “vain repetitions”! In other words, I’m really proud of him.

Of course, the fact that David has reached this point does not mean he has magically overcome his little-Daddy temper. And thus begins today’s episode.

Today at lunch, I requested that David ask a blessing on the food. This request, regardless of which child fulfills it, is always met with a prayer that includes many wonderful things—gratitude for Grandma and Pop, prayers that the new meetinghouse and temple each be completed quickly, prayers that our baby will finally get here, etc.. However, while going down their lists, the children quite often neglect one rather important thing: namely, the food.

As David continued to pray, it became apparent to me that our lunch was not going to be one of the many things he would be thankful for. So, as I often do, I interrupted his “In the name…” with a simple reminder, “food.”

David freaked… out. I have never seen him get so mad about this particular reminder. He started off with a typical “NOOO!!!”, which was quickly followed by a “BY MYSELF!!!”

“Okay, David,” I replied. “You can…”

“—BY MYSEEEELLLLF!!!”

“Fine, David. You can do it by yourself.”

David re-bowed his head, was silent for a moment, then looked back up at me and asked, “What was it again?”

“Food.”

“By myself.”

“Sure.”

“And thank thee for the food….”

I love it when he doesn’t need any help. ;-)

Vacation 2010

I finally have a few pictures ready to share from our vacation last month.

On the second evening of our vacation, we went to dinner at IHOP with Aunt Jaci, Uncle Justin, a family friend named Jay, Grandma, and Pop. IHOP features a clown who does face painting, temporary tattoos, and balloon animals on Friday nights. There is also a "special visitor" each Friday. That week it was Diego. David kept alternating between whining that he wasn't close enough to Diego and being terrified of Diego, all the while refusing to get a tattoo or face paint. :-/ In true Leah fashion, she was all for everything. She got a beautiful easter egg tattoo, some butterfly face paint, and a balloon creation. The clown mistakenly assumed Leah would want a butterfly balloon, but Leah set her straight pretty quickly and requested a princess. All of the adults in our party watched in awe as this talented clown twisted the balloons into something that actually looks like a princess!

When we first arrived at the family's little beach house (or bungalow as we sometimes call it), the kids were incredibly excited. They couldn't believe they each had their own tv and alarm clock in their rooms!

Leah made her room her own just a little bit by unpacking her clothes and putting them in the drawers. This is so Leah, and we thought it was totally cute.

David got a bit confused and kept asking why we had moved into a new house. He then proceeded to sweep the floor.

More to come! (And at this rate I'll still be talking about vacation 2010 when vacation 2011 comes around :-P )

She's growing up!

The next few weeks will bring some changes in our little Leah's life. First of all, some friends of ours have invited her to participate in hula dance lessons, and she will have a performance on September 4th. Leah has always loved dancing and has looked forward to the day when she can take formal dance lessons. We had intended to have her start dance lessons with another good friend from church earlier in the year, but, as happens so easily when you let it, time got away from us. It will be nice to see how she does with these lessons so that we can determine whether it would be good to have her continue. She is so incredibly excited! As soon as she found out when her first practice was going to be, she walked up and told anyone who would listen, "I'm going to learn how to hula dance on Thursday at 4:00!"

When we return from vacation in a few weeks, Leah will also start preschool. I'm having little mommy twinges about letting her go since this was to be my last year with her all to myself, but I know she will absolutely love it. Besides, I'm sure David could also benefit from a few hours a week with mommy all to himself. ;-) It has been quite the ordeal trying to determine which preschool we want to go with. There are quite a few in our area, so at least we had some choice. It got a little overwhelming at times. We have almost certainly decided on one, though, and we will be visiting to make that final decision and hopefully get Leah enrolled sometime in the next week.

I've had a few moments lately when I just haven't been able to figure out where the time has gone. One was over the weekend when I came across some pictures of David from early last year. While I love the stage he's in right now, I found myself longing to relive those earlier days, too. I had a similar moment with Leah this morning right after she woke up. I asked her to come to me. I picked her up and held her like a little baby. My mind brought me back to some of the first times I held her as a brand new infant. My mind couldn't grasp what all has happened in those almost 5 years! Was there ever really a time that I wasn't a mother? A time when I cried in anguish because I didn't know if I'd ever be a mother? Oh, how our lives have been so richly blessed in these 5 years. Nothing compares!

I've never been that great at preserving personal history. Blogs like this one have probably come closest, but I *gasp* really don't have a baby book for either of the children, for example. As such, it is so hard to recreate in my mind those days when my children were younger. I could tell you the more general things like Jeff changed jobs when Leah and David were "x" years old, but I so miss the specific feelings, thoughts, sights, sounds, and smells of an earlier time. I was telling Jeff how I hope we get to re-live (even if just in our minds) our favorite parts from this life after we die. I know that specific moments from my children's young lives will be among those.

Reflections

Nothing makes me feel better than the squeezy hugs and sloppy kisses my kids give me each day. There is nothing more sacred than the love and trust I see in their eyes. There is nothing more awesome nor more terrifying than being the center of an innocent child's world. I feel so blessed and privileged to be a mother to these special children. They are my world!

Adventures in Garage Sale-ing

What's crazier than trying to run a garage sale with two preschoolers? Not much! LOL!

Seriously, we did have a good time doing our garage sale last Friday and Saturday, but I do think I earned a badge in Heat & Humidity Survival and Leah earned her badge in Young Sales-Laydship with the lemonade (and cookie and freezer pop) stand. David earned new pins for a badge he already earned long ago: New and Creative Ways to Make Your Mother's Heart Stop. This mostly had to do with him messing with things he had no business messing with and doing all he could to make sure said item made it almost into the road with him on it/in it. That's David!

Little kids amaze me in their ability to get excited about just about anything. The kids were thrilled to do their lemonade stand, including all of the steps to get it set up and going (they're good cookie baggers). Several people asked them what they were going to spend their money on. This question was generally met with a "deer in the headlights" stare. I'm not sure it had ever occurred to them that they'd get anything out of the stand beyond the joy of serving their customers.

As I mentioned above, Leah was quite the little sales lady. She had no qualms about asking our customers if they would like any cookies or lemonade. After a while, however, she got a little discouraged at hearing so many "no, thanks" (I was a little surprised so many people could resist my sweetheart….), so she got a little too aggressive in her approach for my liking. It was totally cute, but I chose to use it as a lesson in social skills. She took to following people down the driveway and asking if they were sure that they didn't want any lemonade. I'm sure people recognized that she's 4-and-a-half and cut her some slack for that, but I don't want to raise an obnoxious, pushy person, so I gently stepped in. I told her it was fine to ask people once if they'd like anything from the stand, but she needed to wait until they were at least in the vicinity of the stand to ask. Being the intelligent child that she is, she caught on right away. She didn't return to sweetly asking people if they'd like something, though. She took a more manipulative approach; when anyone cared to glance at her or came close to the stand, she'd make sure she said loudly enough to be heard, "Boy, that lemonade sure looks good" or "Man, it's hot out here. I'm thirsty!" or "Cookies are a good treat on a hot day." I couldn't help but giggle. I figured she'd had enough of a social lesson for the day, so I let it slide.

In the end, we did make a little money, and we got rid of some things that have been sitting around for a while, including our air hockey table. We were thrilled to sell it to some friends from church since we know their grandsons will really enjoy playing with it. As I like to tell everyone, it had been relegated to a laundry folding table here. :-/ I cried like a baby after a couple of ladies (one obviously in the third trimester of her pregnancy) bought the kids' Intellitainer (kind of like an exersaucer). I just had to keep reminding myself that we weren't getting rid of it because there will be no more babies in our home. The kids had just worn out the electronic part of it, and it was silly to keep it if we could have something just as good that would take up less space. *sigh*

The weekend would not have been complete if we hadn't taken some time to peruse the other garage sales in the neighborhood. As such, I'm not sure we didn't actually increase the number of toys in our home, but maybe the kids will at least play more with the items they acquired than they did with the things we passed on to someone else. ;-)

Recent Quotables

David and Leah say something hilarious (at least in our opinion) almost daily. Here are some of their recent quotables.

David (as seen at right): “I’m an armadillo!”

David: “The Holy Ghost isn't in the car.” (This was sung over and over on our way to an appointment)

Leah: “I can only do big jumps on Wednesdays.”

Leah: “I can only open the bathroom door by myself once a day.”

David: “Leah, there's a barking spider on you!” (This was quickly followed by sound effects, and, no, not the kind you're thinking of. Apparently, barking spiders say “Eeeeeeeeee, bark, bark!”)

David: “Jesus put a lollipop in my throat and it went down the drain. Now it's in my belly.” (his explanation for what made him choke)

Leah: “Uh-oh! It looks like the Holy Ghost is playing on our swings again.” (the wind was blowing them around)

David: “Mr. Birdfeather!” (This was the one and only peep we heard from him on the baby monitor all evening. It was spoken in a British accent, and accents always make things funnier!)

Leah: “I'm only doing the windows, the floor, and the roof!” (said while trying to stall bedtime and convince daddy to help her build a Lego house)

Leah: “I hope my doll's hair doesn't look too dorky.”

Mother's Day

I feel blessed every day to be a mother, but it was nice to have a specific reason to celebrate today. The absolute highlight of the day was getting to hear Leah sing in church today. I was afraid she was going to miss the opportunity because she announced that she needed to go to the potty right before (or at least what we thought was right before) the children were supposed to go up for the performance. Thankfully, she said she could wait for a little bit. I normally don't make her wait, but there were clues that she was just bored and trying to get out into the hallway. ;-)

The kids first sang "Mother, I Love You" in Spanish. I know her Spanish wasn't perfect, but Leah sang out loud and strong, without hesitation. The sincere look on her face is one of the most precious things I've ever seen. The children moved on to "Mother, I Love You" in English. Leah didn't miss a beat. The children finished up with "A Child's Prayer." For those unfamiliar with the song, it has two parts. The first part serves as the first verse; the second part serves as the second verse; for the third verse, both parts are sung together (the children's choir split in two groups to do this). This type of song can be challenging for children, but Leah held her own. I could tell she was very focused on singing her part just right. It brought me to tears. I just couldn't believe that I am the mother to such a precious, talented little girl! After the song finished, a lady from two pews back said loud enough for us to hear, "Anna, you have a star there!" I couldn't do anything but giggle at that point because I am so happy to be Leah's mom.

In other Mother's Day news, the kids made me some lovely gifts. One was a flower with a tootsie pop in the middle of it and Leah's little handprint attached to it. Leah informed me that the flower and the handprint were for me, but the candy was for her! :-P David thought the tissue paper flower arrangement he made for me in nursery was a toy for him, so we had a bit of a tantrum on our hands when I explained it wasn't a toy at all. I guess we need to have a little lesson on sacrifice and giving cheerfully! ;-)

Family Activities

I love it that the kids love being involved in our family activities. They cheer when they realize it's Monday, and they get to participate in Family Home Evening. Usually, they get to pick the songs ("Follow the Prophet" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" are some favorites) and say the prayers. Leah has even taught the lesson a couple of times (imagine a 4-year-old trying to teach about the Resurrection; it was quite touching, but also quite humorous!). They love to help plant and water the flowers and vegetable garden. David especially loves to help mommy make dinner, and sometimes pulls a few extra ingredients out of the pantry. ;-) It makes me so happy that they love being together as a family. I hope this love runs deep so that it extends later into their childhood and teen years. A girl can dream.
;-)

I Make This Look Good

So David, as some of our more astute readers may remember, has an asthma-like condition that has been described as “allergy-induced asthma” (which is basically what I had as a child, too). The point is that if the poor little guy gets sick at all, it gets into his chest and stays there like an annoying relative, which then requires him to take daily doses of Albuterol and Pulmicort (both asthma medications) via a nebulizer, until the symptoms go away.

Last night, our little man was receiving his treatment and decided to make a fashion statement. Enjoy the pic, and check out my Facebook page for more.

Little Conversations

David has officially entered the “why” stage. You know; the one where many statements will elicit a response of “Why?” from the child? Well, here’s a conversation we had yesterday, as best as I can remember.

To set the stage: we’re currently on vacation at Grandma and Pop’s house, but specifically, to attend their retirement party. As things were winding down, last night (there were like 80 people here, at the height of things), the kids asked to get in the pool. Unfortunately, it was just a little too chilly for that, by that point, so we compromised and got in the hot tub.

While Leah, David, and I (Daddy) were “swimming” in the hot tub, my aunts, Barbara, Janice, and Mary Lou, sat down with Mommy and talked with me and the kids, from beside the tub. One by one, the aunts took off for their respective destinations, which eventually led David to ask what was going on.

David: “Where’s Janice?”

Daddy: “At the hotel.”

David: “Where?”

Daddy: “On Route 23.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “So she can sleep.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because she’s tired.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because it’s night time.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because the sun went down.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because the Earth rotates on its axis.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because if it didn’t, we’d fall off.”

David: “Why?”

Daddy: “Because there’d be no gravity.”

David: “Oh.”

…which apparently explained everything, since that’s where the conversation ended. ;-)

Rock on!

First of all, a subtle petition to Blogger.com:

BRING BACK LUCIDA GRANDE!

Thank you.

So anyway, it’s obviously been quite a while since I (Daddy) last posted, here. First I was in Kentucky, then I was in California, and then I was supposed to be in Georgia. And of course, because of the nature of the Internet, that’s absolutely no excuse. But I thought I’d at least upload this picture of the kids, rocking out. How cute is that?

Since my last post, we’ve had a visit from the kids’ uncle Eddie and his family, a visit from Leah’s birthdad, Danny, and his mother and sister, and are now preparing to head out to New Jersey to visit Daddy’s family, plus the kids’ uncle Ben and his family (who recently moved there, as well).

I’ll probably fill everybody in on the last month (or some of it, at least), a bit later, but for right now, just know that I haven’t abandoned the blog. I’m still here, rocking on, just like my kids. :-)

Oh and by the way: you can also check out my own, new blog, The Empty Soda Can. It’s frigoriffic!