Someday My Prince Will Come...Upstairs

Lately Brandon and Katelyn have decided to exercise their free agency and have not been too compliant with "our" plan to get up early. Katelyn has always loved her bed, even when she was a little baby in her crib. Rarely would she cry for me to come and get her. Nothing has really changed. Even in her planner she schedules time to read in bed every morning. Brandon, however, learned how to jump out of his crib at 18 months old and has been an early riser ever since. Until now. He must be growing, or staying up too late reading, or something. I am sooo tired of nagging the kids, so I've decided to sing instead. I know, that's even worse than nagging, but I'm trying to be creative about it.

This morning I sang "Someday my prince will come...upstairs" from Snow White. I've also tried "And in the east, the dawn is breaking, and the world is waking, come and eat your breakfast" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. There's also, "Who will eat my wonderful breakfast?" to the tune of "Who will buy my sweet red roses?" from Oliver. My favorite is the BYU fight song, "Rise and Shout the Cougars Are Out!" When I get to "rah, rah, rah rah rah" I'm right over their heads while they pull the covers up.

It's so much fun that I once broke out into "It's a Hard Knock Life For Us" from Annie when they complained about chores. Katelyn didn't appreciate "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" when she scowled at me.

The truth is, we each have a choice to make the minute we wake up. Who will we serve? When I sing, I am making the choice. I will not give in to discouragement. I will not succomb to the temptation to feel sorry for myself. I will not be the source of the contention. For many days in a row, days that were particularly tough for me, I sang "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning." Each time, there came into our home a feeling of loveliness, an added source of power we so desperately needed.

We sing hymns every morning now, without fail. I have witnessed amazing things as we have sung them together. Yesterday we sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" at our morning devotional. I watched Brandon's countenance completely change when we sang the words "For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child." He went from anger at me, to complete meekness and asked for forgiveness. For our family, music makes all the difference. It is the literal harmony that we are seeking. Music is a powerful tool. It is my secret weapon. Of course, Brandon is using it against me--payback for my early morning singing. I had his violin songs (the Disney Spectacular) in my head all day and all night. I dream the music. Nothing like "Chim chimeree, chim chimeree, chim chim cheroo" at 3 am. Oh, well, I guess it's only fair. No wonder I wake up with Snow White in my mind!!

Happy Mothers' Day

It was such a busy day yesterday that I didn't get a chance to wish all of the mothers in my life a "Happy Mothers' Day." I have been thinking of all of you and how you are the angels that watch over and inspire me. I am speaking of my dear friends, sisters, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, and, of course, you, Mom. Thank you all for teaching me how to love and nurture, how to be patient, how to keep trying, and how to laugh when you really feel like crying.

I've had a special place in my heart this month as it has been one year already since my "Russian mother", Alla, passed away. I miss her and pray for the family she left behind. She was very close to my heart, even though she lived so far away.

Thank you, Mom, for always being there. For loving and supporting me through all my hard moments and celebrating with me in the small victories. Thank you for loving my children so much. You help me see them in the right perspective. From you I've learned not to be so worried, to have more faith in them, and to just enjoy them and love them. Thank you for listening and helping to ease my burden. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you!

Perspective

I am totally exhausted tonight, so might not be able to organize my sentences very well. I had a very challenging day and feel like I have endured many rounds in a boxing ring. I'm not sure who won. I feel like a dead mommy, so I guess they did. It's not that they aren't good kids, it's just that they have hearing problems so I have to repeat myself many times. It's not that they aren't bright and talented, it's that they are LOUD! We actually had to create a new rule: Don't SING with your mouth full. They were singing in Latin--you'd think I'd be proud. Our family home evening consisted of me yelling for them to STOP BEING WILD! I finally put them to bed early because I thought that would be better than me losing it.

I was just crawling into my bedroom feeling so sorry for myself that my husband is away again (or should I say, still...?), when I thought I would take a peek at DeLynn's blog. Suddenly my burden seemed lighter and I felt an abundance of gratitude that my companion is still very much alive. He deeply cares and wishes that he were here. I can text him anytime and talk to him every day. When he is in town, he works very hard to ease my burden. I don't know what I would do without him. I can actually feel his prayers on my behalf.

I guess we just carry on, hopefully having a chance for renewal as often as we need it. I did laugh today, though. I got up early to check Brandon and then thought I would read scriptures (at 5:30 am--might as well, I wasn't going to sleep again.) I read Proverbs 31:10. "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." It goes on to list all the wonderful attributes of a virtuous woman. It even stated that she wakes in the night to provide for her household. I could relate! I then imagined where I might be if someone were trying to find this virtuous woman. I just might be curled up in bed with my pillow over my head trying to catch a few more moments of sleep, or maybe hiding in my closet trying to make a quick phone call, or in my bathroom for a moment of peace and quiet. It made me smile. Hopefully if the Lord did need to find me, I'd be singing at the piano or lovingly reading to the kids. :)

Hopefully I can live up to the descriptions in the scriptures and be there for those kids who need me. Hopefully when they find me again, I'll be the mother they need. Until then, I'll just be grateful for my own set of challenges and pray for the others around me who have even greater burdens.

You inspire me, DeLynn. Thank you.

Happy Easter

Today is Paul's birthday. It's a little hard to think about it. I know when I see Mom today we will probably shed a couple of tears. I was thinking, though, about how great it is that his birthday is just a couple of days away from Easter. It has always been that way, but now it has a special meaning for us. When I rejoice that the Savior lives again, I will think of Paul and how grateful I am for the Atonement--because of him. He lives also. Everything around us points toward this miracle.

DeLynn, we are thinking of you today. We love you.

Life Itself Is The Most Wonderful Fairy Tale

"Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale" is the quote I just put on my wall in vinyl letters. I have family pictures on the wall also which remind me of some of our best and precious moments. I really do believe it is true. Our story is so amazing and wonderful that it surpasses even the best adventures we read about. Our story includes a princess who waited patiently for her prince to return from a long and important mission. Upon returning home they were immediately married for eternity in a beautiful castle. They set up their own kingdom and began their royal family. Together the new king and queen overcame challenges and persevered until every royal family member was finally brought home. The royal family had to cross the great waters many times, visit foreign lands, fight many arduous battles, and overcome fear, discouragement, and jet lag. When all were safely home within the castle walls, the most unexpected thing happened. Another little prince joined the family. The whole kingdom rejoiced. Who would have thought that such wonderful things could happen in our little family?

This last week we had another royal adventure. The king and queen decided to take the royal family, all nine of us (including Grandma and Grandpa) to a place "where dreams come true." It wasn't easy. This time we were met with all kinds of opposition.

We had fever, vomiting, hives, ear aches, sore throats, small bladders, low blood sugars, high blood sugars, moodiness, thirst, fatigue, hunger, non-celiac friendly restaurants, contention, long lines, short patience, and gift shops full of silly stuff for tons of money. Somehow we made it and we have come away with more precious moments for the fairy tale wall.

Here are a few of those such moments:

When we got settled on our first flight, Josh leaned over and asked, "When is this airplane going to blast off?"

When Brandon announced for all to hear that he did numbers 1, 2, and 3 in that little airplane bathroom. (For those of you who may not have his sort of imagination, number 3 involves vomit. Lovely, I know.)

When Amanda helped make her own birthday cake and blew out the candles in about 20 puffs. We tried to not think about how much saliva was on the frosting. She was so happy. She even got a sleeping beauty nightgown so she could be a sleeping beauty too.

When Josh celebrated his birthday the next day at the poolside in 80 degree weather. We ordered pizza and were able to make an awesome gluten-free pizza in the room. It was heavenly. He had his own birthday cake with animal crackers to commemorate our trip to Animal Kingdom that day. (Thank goodness for our own kitchen in the room). When Amanda met Sleeping Beauty. She gazed up at her and sweetly said, "I love you!" She was so gracious. Katelyn and Amanda were in awe.

After seeing the dolphin and whale show at SeaWorld, Katelyn announced that she had just seen the most marvelous production of her life. She now wants to be a trainer at Sea World when she grows up.

When Zachary posed for us in scenic Japan at Epcot. He must have learned how by watching the other crazy kids.

When Brandon and Katelyn stayed long after the bird show at Animal Kingdom asking question after question. I realized how much they love learning. Pay day for Mom. Everywhere we went there was something amazing to learn about. Brandon especially loved learning about other cultures.

When Katelyn blew a kiss at Minnie Mouse and Minne blew one back!

When Amanda had to be measured to see if she was tall enough for Splash Mountain and she barely made it! She loved it, because now that she was five years old, she was big enough to do the big kid rides!

When we saw the kids helping each other. See, Mom and Dad, they didn't fight the whole time!

When the kids got to meet Baloo and King Louis from the Jungle Book. Zach played peek-a-boo with Baloo and then burst into tears when he saw King Louis. King Louis acted like he was so sad that Zach didn't want to meet him. He hid his eyes and cried. It just made Zach cry all the harder.

We had a great time. I could list many other memories, but probably you had to be there for most of them. It was fun, but we are glad to be back in our routine, hectic as it is, just so we can rest a little! Let's just say, Mom and Dad probably won't be doing any Disney trips for a while. Thanks for being great sports, Mom and Dad!

Big News for Josh

Our little Josh, who is not so little anymore, has learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. He is now officially a big kid. His birthday is next week when he will turn 5 years old! Everyone in the family is celebrating this big milestone. Now he can come to the park and ride around the bike trail with Brandon and Katelyn. He even talks like he doesn't belong with the little kids anymore. We are so proud of you, Josh!


Amanda is also going to turn 5 next week! She is so excited to be a big girl. She is Mommy's number one helper with baby Zach. She has amazed us all by growing almost a whole inch since Christmas. Her hair is growing so thick and long that soon we'll be able to do braids like Katelyn does. She can hardly wait.

I've grown this much!!

We're Still Here

My computer has officially recovered from a hard drive transplant and is now faster than ever before. Thank you to Brian who is officially geeky enough to come in really handy when there is a computer emergency.

The family is doing great. Amanda has grown 3/4 of an inch since our last post (I know, hard to believe), Josh has two permanent teeth already, and Zachary is just getting his final baby teeth. Brandon has braces now. Katelyn still has hers, so we have two tweeners (isn't that what it is when you are between child and teenager?) The little ones all have pink eye and ear infections. The big ones just have cabin fever. I have it, too, I confess. We've enjoyed having the weather warmer for more outside play. It will be nice when we don't have to wash our hands 45 times in an hour from all the noses and eyes I am wiping.

It's official. I am a great aunt. I sound so old, don't I? Tyler and Brandi (Paul's family) just had my parent's first great grandchild. She is a sweet little girl. They named her Chloe. We can't wait to meet her.

I can't think of any more news tonight. It's already past my bedtime. More later.