Albuquerque Turkeys: May 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Moments & Mindfulness

On Mother's Day, I heard this quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk entitled "Daughters of God," and I just loved it.

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)."

That was a good reminder for me. I have been thinking about that all month, and trying to recognize those special times with my kids and to stop and enjoy them more often. I have been trying to share at least one "moment" with at least one of my children every day. I've also been trying to be more "present"-- for lack of a better word. A lot of times I find myself preoccupied with this or that, and not listening to my children carefully. I've been trying to just really be all-the-way-there more often; instead of being physically present but mentally thinking about the next thing on my to-do list.

Anyway, there's been a lot of good side effects of being more mindful, one of which is that I have been able to find a little bit of humor in the hard and frustrating and monotonous times in between.

Here is what is going on between those shining moments of joy:

Yes, we've reached the phase of keeping the bathroom doors CLOSED!

(unless we want to double our toilet paper consumption.)

Hayden decorates the walls any chance he gets.

He even signs his work with a big "H"

Sydney doesn't want my music to feel neglected so she takes it out of it's storage crate every day.

Sean and Hayden used my rotary blade to embellish my craft table and were careful to make sure the chair matched.

Pillows and cushions that never stay where they belong.

Don't have a clue what they used to scratch up this table.

monotony.

Here's to recognizing those joyful, fleeting moments, and to living in them better. Because we all know that what goes on between those moments can really kick your butt.

Friday, May 20, 2011

How I Became a Pirate

Last weekend, we took the kids to the North 4th Arts Center to see . . .

It was pretty cute, and the best part was they encouraged you to dress up in your best pirate garb. You know I always love a reason to dress up, so of course we donned our pirate stuff, (except for Arthur who doesn't dress up if he can avoid it.) Thanks to Amber for the fun idea, and for supplementing our pirate supply since we don't have quite enough for all of us.

The show was about an hour long, and the kids were all pretty good. Hayden had me a little worried when during the 2nd song he said, "Um, when are they going to start the movie?" We quietly explained that this was it--it's a real life performance . . . He got into it eventually. Especially when they invited the audience to say some pirate lingo, like AARG! Hayden could have won best costume, had they been judging. He looked almost exactly like the main Pirate, "Captain Braidbeard!" When Captain Braidbeard came on stage, Hayden looked down at his lace cravat and back up to Braidbeard, and said, "Hey! I have one of those too!" The only thing he was missing was the beard.

AAAARRRRG!

Shiver me Timbers!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Father's and Sons 2011

This is the first year Arthur has taken all the boys to Father's and Sons since finally all of them are potty-trained. (hurray!) These guys were so excited. I overheard Hayden telling one of his friends that he was going camping with his dad, and NOT his mom. You know it's gonna be good when they get in the car all by themselves and patiently wait with their seat-belts buckled until Dad finishes loading the car.

They had a super time! And Daphne and I were kind-of amazed at how quiet it was with just the girls at home. Too bad it's only once a year. ;)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Basket Night--Arthur's Version

Every year after Basket Night, Arthur declares that we are not going next year. And every year when Basket night rolls around, the kids get so excited about it, and I still purchase our dinner tickets for us to go.

Basket Night is a fundraiser for our kids' elementary school. Every class collects items for a basket, each basket with a different theme. They really are fun--Gift Card baskets, Lego baskets, Star Wars baskets, Games and Puzzles, Gardening, Chocolate and Coffee, Family Fun, etc. Then everyone is invited to the school on a Thursday night for Rudy's BBQ, face painting, music, and of course, raffling off the baskets.

As we were heading home from last night's basket night, Arthur was going on and on about it, and I suggested he write it on the blog--he'd feel much better. Besides, his point of view was pretty funny. But he hardly ever gets on here, so I guess it's up to me to document Arthur's Version of Basket Night.

I am paraphrasing, but this is basically how Arthur feels about Basket Night, and why we're not going next year:

It's the same thing every year. It's always windy, because springtime in New Mexico "blows." But the kids are all excited, and get in the car without even being asked, so I reluctantly get in the car to take the whole family out to basket night. At first, when we get there, it's not too bad. All the families are out on the field on blankets and lawn chairs. There is music playing and you can smell Rudy's BBQ and Kettle Corn. Good times, right? We spread out our blanket, and one of us goes with the older kids to get the food. We wait in line forever to get our food. It's good food--but by the time you walk from the food line back to your blanket (which is not THAT far) the wind has dried out your bread and cooled off your food for you.

Dinner goes like this: The people who care about eating (Me, Sharee, Dallin & Sean) are all trying to eat our food before it gets too cold. Hayden takes just enough bites to get his brownie, and Daphne keeps asking to run off with her friends even though she hasn't eaten anything yet. And even though we always purchase less plates than family members, we still throw out a BUNCH of food because the kids aren't going anywhere near the coleslaw or potato salad. Inevitably someone will knock over their soda and get the blanket all wet and sticky. And, of course in the middle of dinner, the pottytraining/newly pottytrained child, in this case, Hayden, needs to go to the bathroom. We can't find one that is unlocked. He tries to "New-York-Style" it, but gets stagefright, so then we spend the rest of the time wondering when the accident is coming.

So after the eating ordeal is done, we get our basket tickets and the kids put their tickets in their favorite baskets. It takes 45 minutes to raffle off all the baskets. Everyone is talking and you can't hear anything the announcer is saying, so if even if we did win a basket, we'd probably miss it. The last basket is FINALLY raffled off. Of course we don't win a basket, and of course, the 5-year-old in the family has an emotional breakdown because they didn't win the basket they were dreaming of, the older kids have gone off with some of their friends and while we are trying to find them, the 3-year-old gets lost, and the baby is just DONE. (Like me.) We walk back to the car, carrying our sticky picnic blanket, and feeling irritated because 5 is still crying, 3 is asking us why did we get lost? the baby is whining and the wind is blowing dust in our eyes. We are not coming next year.

And yet, when it comes again a year later, all I remember is the yummy Rudy's BBQ, the smell of the Kettle Corn, and the kids having a fun time (despite not winning a basket) and the community togetherness we enjoy . . . and next year when the kids bring home the information about basket night, and are so excited about going, I will probably cave in and buy our dinner tickets. Again.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

April Quotes

Dallin was invited to a Sunday birthday party and wrote on the invitation: "I must refuse."

Arthur: Hayden--Come here!

Hayden: What do I did?

Me: Hayden, it's time to get in your jammies.

Hayden: (big sigh) Mom, let'th jutht pretend thethe are my jammieth.

(let's just pretend these are my jammies.)

Stopped at an intersection, Sean noticed a neighboring red convertible,

and said with some pity in his voice,

"Look Mom, that car lost its top."

Dallin: One day I bought lunch when I thought it was Max Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza, and instead it was Fish n chips. It stunk and kind of tasted like cow manure.

(Just for the record, I've never served my kids cow manure, but who can trust seafood in a state that doesn't even touch an ocean, let alone cafeteria seafood! I'm sure those fish n chips left much to be desired.)

When Hayden got his haircut, he got lots of compliments on how handsome it was. He usually replied: "Thanks. My dad made it."

After we got rear-ended-- Daphne: Don't people know they should look when they are driving!?!

(See? Even a 7 year-old knows you should look when you're driving, people! )

Our computer is password protected to control the amount of computer time the boys have. Well after Hayden spent about 30 minutes trying to hack the password, (no joke--that guy was really persistant!) I finally let him have some screen time. Well, I had him get off after he had used more than his alotted share of screen time, and from his lunch at the kitchen table, he kept looking back at the computer. It fades down a level before it completely goes to sleep, and when he saw it had gone to the fade-down screen, the tears welled up in his eyes, and he said, "Mom, when I'm in heaven, can I have my own pathword?"(password)

The other night, Dallin noticed the kitchen trash can was full and without being asked proceeded to empty it, and put in a new garbage bag. As he was doing that he said to Aunt Julianne, "My parents would be so proud of me, because I saw a need, and filled it." (We talk about that a lot at our house. It's so gratifying to see that sometimes they remember it!)

Hayden: Look, Mom. I don't want our house to be white. I want our house to be a color. And I want that color to be green.

Mom: Well, it costs too much money for us to paint our house green. But when you have a house, you can paint it green.

Hayden: I can't do it, Mom! I'm too little!

Sean: Well when I grow up, my house will be red.

Hayden: No, I want it to be GREEN! (I think he doesn't understand that they will all be in different houses when they grow up.)

Sean: Hayden, your house can be green, and my house will be red. And mom's house will be white.

I took Daphne on a date to see the PLAY Conservatory perform "Charlotte's Web" and afterwards, we went to get a treat at Wendy's with our friends who we saw the play with. Well she wasn't really sure what she wanted, and when we got our order, it turns out that it wasn't what she had in mind. She proceeded to complain and whine about it until I finally told her that if she didn't stop complaining, we would have to go and wouldn't that be a sad way to end our fun outting? She eventually stopped complaining and ate what I'd ordered and helped both of her friends finish their treats also. So, on the way home in the car, we talked about good manners and what would have been a better way to handle that situation. And how if someone gets you a treat, you say thank-you and eat it--not whine that it isn't the treat you wanted, and ask to buy a different one. When we were almost home, as a little review, I asked her what she learned about manners today, and she said, "I learned that I should say Thank-you even when someone gets me the treat that I don't want." close enough.

Harry Potter 7 pt. 1 came out yesterday. I bought it and of course we had to watch it that night. We put a show on for the little kids upstairs, and watched it downstairs. Well, of course the little-kid movie ended way before ours ended, and they all ended up downstairs with us. So when a scary part was coming we'd have them close their eyes. On the really scary part, I held a pillow in front of Hayden's face until it was over. After I removed the pillow, he said, "Wow. That part wath really thcary!"

Kindergarten discussions:

Daphne: Sean, Kindergarten is paradise because you get to take naps, and play fun games . . .

Dallin: But what stinks is they make you take naps when you don't want them, and when you're older and you DO want them, they won't let you!

Mom: Oh, believe me, I know how that stinks.

Daphne: I hope you get Mrs. Shoemaker (her former kindergarten teacher.) She's a grandma, but she's super nice. I hope she's still alive. And she got a black eye last year from a kid who ran right into her.

Sean: Daphne, you have GOT to be kidding me about the black eye.

Daphne: Don't worry Sean, I'm sure it's better now.

Hayden: (throws a ceramic easter basket on the carpet.) Oh my gosh. It didn't break!

So what did he do next? Oh, of course. he threw it again! . . ???. . are you kidding me?

One morning as we were loading everyone in the car to take the older kids to school, Sean and Daphne were each having a melt-down about what seat they wanted to sit in. Sean was crying, Daphne was whining, and Hayden piped in, "Hey! It's my turn to cry!"

Hayden has never been able to say Sydney. Even before Sydney was born, he called her "Thindy" (Cindy). Well, last night Hayden did something momentous, and a little bit sad for me. He very clearly and distinctly said,

"Thyd-ney.

Mom! Did you hear what I thaid?

I thaid, THYD-NEY.

I can thay her name! I can thay her name!

Thyd-ney, Thyd. Ney. THYDNEY!

I am awthome at thaying Thydney!"

Monday, May 02, 2011

May 2nd -some random thoughts

1. April showers bring . . . May snow?!? What is going on with this wacked out spring weather? My short sleeves and capris are getting impatient.

2. Today when I loaded up the kids to pick Sean up from preschool, Hayden got right in the car (without me asking 17 times) and sat down in his seat without physical force. I said, "Wow! Hayden--that was a really great job sitting in your seat. Thank you so much for doing it all by yourself." He replied, "Yep. That makes Jesus really happy." I love when he decides to be good!

3. I did something today that I don't think I've ever done before. I hung my flag in honor of someone's death. It feels weird to do that. But somehow I wanted to demonstrate my gratitude for our courageous service men who have been searching for 10 years to get rid of the terrorist who orchestrated the attacks on our country on 9/11. God bless America!

Albuquerque Turkeys