i'm so torn between whether i should record things on facebook or here.  more people see it on facebook and i like the validation that my kids are funny. but i feel like i will have the blog longer to go back and look at.  i could be wrong about that.  i will say.  when i think i'm going to post something on facebook i tend to remember the funny thing better.  here are a couple i've recently posted on facebook.

i caught myself saying "sam eat with your hands not with your... mouth."

sam was in the car and said "i'm singing in the rain"  i said wow sam i didn't know that song.  how did you know that and he said, "its raining.  i'm singing."

sam was whining that his tummy hurt and that he needed more candy.

sam put on a spider ring from the halloween bowl and started trying to bite it then said "i can't figure out how to eat this!"

so odd, that's a lot of sam.  normally its jackson that says that kinda stuff. i suppose the stages they're in are transitioning.

i'm reading this book by jennifer fox called discovering your child's strengths.  there are so many things i want to remember.  i picked it up thinking it would be written more for a parent but i see now its written more for an educator but includes parents.   i am actually fine with that and kinda loving it more.  i really enjoy reading about educational theories and laws.  This book is interesting for so many reasons but something i read stuck out to me for a different reason all together.  she was addressing the adolescent rebellion and explaining why teenagers make the extreme choices they do.  she said "adolescents seek out powerful experiences to provide them with profound memories."  now she was trying to calm down the worried or angry parent or teacher for rule breaking or whatnot.  what i thought of though was my kids in youth.  i think about what my children will be doing when they're teenagers and how they will be different.  i think about what makes good kids from good families stay strong and what makes good kids from good families fall away from the church. i know that my children will make their own choices and that is their agency.  i also look for ways that i can have influence.  if i can understand and remember this principle maybe, just maybe, i can help my kids seek out powerful spiritual experiences to provide them with profound testimonies."  i know my father in law is down on things like efy.  i believe he calls it money changing in the temple or something.  but for me efy was one of many powerful spiritual experiences.  i felt genuinely and strongly moved by the spirit i felt there.  of course there are 1,001 free ways of creating and recognizing these powerful experiences as well.   oh i just pray that i can recognize the spoken and unspoken needs of my children.

unspiritual moments

jackson was throwing a crying fit upstairs so brent went to go check it out while i waited downstairs with the sister missionaries.  they had just shared a spiritual thought about praying.  the sister missionary told a story about a stormy night when she said a prayer and felt better.

when brent asked jackson what was wrong he said "the hallway was dark and scary so i said a prayer BUT IT DIDN'T WORK!!"

jackson:  you're always in last place sam.
mom:  jackson i don't like mean talk.  tell him something good about him.  (multiple promptings.)
jackson:  sam you're so good i'm glad hot lava didn't lava you

parenting fail #11,242

Sam eats his boogers.

Come on Sam!!

That's gross.

jackson 5.5

i miss you jackson.  i mean ive had a lot of one on one time with viva and sam since you went to school but im just giddy when you get off the bus.  when i see you sorta fall down the too big for you steps i think "funny how jackson is pretending to be a big kid"  but you are.  you're so smart and independent.  somebody once told me that parenthood is from the beginning, constantly letting go a little more and i've definitely had some hard lessons in that since kindergarten started.  i feel myself fighting urges of being a super hovering parent.  i really dont know how i'm doing.  i get so excited to go through your backpack for clues about youthtr day.  how much lunch you ate, what color on the discipline chart you were.  what your special activity of the day was.  i even bribed you with candy to be able to tell me the names of other kids in your class just to prove that you really were going and to see if you were making friends.  you are.  i get the feeling that everybyody wants to be your friend.  kylie, my spy, told her mom that she didn't sit next to you because other kids wanted to sit next to you at lunch.  yay said a helicopter mom internally.  i have so much confidence in your reading.  you always try new words everywhere you see.  it started hn dad had you read the last bit of scriptures.  i thought he was crazy but as you tried out words that wre obviously too hard for you you learned that sounding it out could get you pretty far and close.  somewhere in there are also started sounding out with your writing.  today, you wrote a thank you note to your teacher.  well dictated.  but at the end you drew a picture.  i went to put eva to bed but when i came back next to the picture you had written "me en u hot air buloon."  kindergarten?  what!?  thats amazing.  another trait of yours that i'm thankful for is your fear of being late for school.  you have little problem waking up early and hurrying to the door in order to be on time.  you'll fearfully ask when we back out "are we late?"  you have lots of things in common with your dad (that im very thankful for) but that is not one of them.  i remind you of the time but i never feel like i'm nagging you to hurry.  phew.  thanks.  you are so inquisitive and thoughtful.  on the way to school you told me you were excited to go to college to learn about those poles under the bridge. what!?  those rides in the morning when its just the two of us are the best.  we talk.  we talk about how pretty the sky is.  you ask me about math questions.  i thought who does this until brent confessed that he did as a kid too.  you're slightly obsessed with the concept of a google and googleplex.  i laugh when you talk about it with adults who don't even know what it is.  one day at fort sanders kids were playing with a ball on a parachute.  mr. jeff asked why the ball went down in the middle.  i'm not sure what he was expecting but you certainly stunned him when your answer was gravity. ahhh... the things curious george has taught you.  you certainly won a few people over at fort sanders.  they all considered you a leader.  i had never thought of that but you certainly are.  you have a natural yet not bossy way of leading people.  one day we were playing at the park.  you often went to build a bridge in the ditch.  on this particular day we'd gone with friends and i look up to see you as the head engineer.  at one point all seven of the kids were carrying one giant limb over to the "bridge" area.  happily working.  you've been trying to earn money for a while.  i would say its now been one year of saving for disneyworld.  it has made me and dad so grateful to see you so committed and diligent towards a distant goal.  we have bragged and will for a long time.  its just so important to learn to work for things that don't have immediate results.  i love that you seem to have taught yourself that.  you're good at toeaching yourself.  you can be particularly stubborn about doing things your way.  you dont like being told how to do things.  when i got so mad at you last summer about not doing what i wanted you to do to learn how to swim i quit.  i said fine.  i'm done.  then you taught yourself how to swim.  its that courage to try for yourself that gives you confidence.  yeah, sometimes you fail and you need people.  but you want to prove it to yourself first that you need people before you just toss your hands in the air and ask for help.  ive also been super impressed with your dedication to practicing the piano this year.  i was dreading, DREADING, this year because i knew that there would be significantly more practice time.  i know how you react to being told how to do something.  i was afraid of a daily fight.  not only have you been willing to practice but you've been doing really good and getting better everyday.  i can't believe how fast you've learned new skills and seemed to really enjoy the process.  as hard as its been to let you go this year, i think kindergarten's challenges have made you a happier person.  you're getting time away from me which unfortunately for me is a good thing for you.  you've been so successful at making friends, listening to your teacher and following rules (you seem to earn a star every day), and being more patient.  your siblings are obsessed with you and see you as the prize at the end of their day.  last night as you said your prayer you said "im thankful that i have a great family" and i just wanted to yell how thankful we were for you.  thank you thank you thank you for being so forgiving, and kind.  grandma jan told me once that she was impressed with your kindness.  you enjoy making other people happy.  you try to please them and be everybodys friend.  i love you.

Eva .5

Eva.  Although i've told people over the past week we've had an estranged relationship. thats not true now.  true, you've been waking up more at night.  crying louder.  even longer.  but how can you be mad at somebody so beautiful!  today you just laughed and were so perfect all previous resentments faded.  you watched me bake cookies just chewing on a spoon.  funny.  you like spoons as long as they don't have baby food on them.  then you can't stand them.  i love holding you on my lap.  its so funny to see those adorably chunky legs be so flexible.  your favorite toy happens to also be your most accessible--your toes.  the way you laugh when you hold them cracks me up!  oh eva you laugh so hard too!  i love it when you get to giggling because we all can't contain ourselves.  daddy and jackson get you giggling the hardest.  poor jackson.  he always wants to hold you.  sometimes i feel like friends and neighbors hold you more than him though because i always seem to say "jackson you can hold her anytime but they're just visiting."  when i was pregnant i had a hard time getting excited about a girl but i tell you now i cant get enough pink.  not to make sure people call you a girl but just because prettiness suits you.  my favorite is putting you in the dresses rachel and i wore as babies.  while it took some courage and more than a few attempts, i now love putting your hair into a tiny pigtail with a tiny bow.  everyday i like getting you dressed.  even when its hand-me-down clothes you seem to make everything look better.  you are so funny.  when i lay you on your back you hold your head up as long as you can.  you finally fall but then try to sit up again.  its like your holding a crunch.  the boys always wanted to be lain down on their backs but you prefer your tummy.  you've starting pulling up on your knees and bouncing, lunging forward ever so slightly but steadily.  im a little bummed.  i love the crawling age but i also love the sitting stuck in one spot phase.  its funny.  you're close to crawling and yet you have never rolled from your back to your front.  you're like a beetle stuck on your back.  when you accidentally rolled to your back today sam came running down the hall saying "help viva rolled over!"  he could see your helplessness.  everybody loves how easy it is to get you to smile.  and when you smile back everybody feels better.  there is something about getting positive feedback from a baby that just makes you feel like a better person.  like if there is a true judge of character, its a baby, and she seems to think i'm ok.  i just love to think that my daughter can bring that kind of peace and assurance to others.  a self confidence and even awareness of God's love.  i certainly feel God's love around you.  He gave me YOU! he must LOVE me.  When i hold you sometimes you push your cheeks on mine and i can hardly move because i just dont want the moment to ever end.  i love you!.