Gone Casting

Children have such a funny way of being honest ;)

Yesterday we went over to my Mom's to celebrate her birthday.  While we were there, Dad decided it would be fun to take Mom fishing.  So he got online and bought her a fishing license for her birthday present. 

Not long after, we were all on our way up the mountain to Bench's pond.  Jake and I didn't have licenses, but that was okay because Baby Girl kept us pretty occupied walking all over the dock.....she is super fast for a 9 month old.

Aunt Holly was chosen to share her pole with Little Man.  So the two of them would cast and reel, cast and reel.  Turns out Little Man is almost as good at casting as Aunt Holly ;).

Every time they would reel in the line, Little Man would get very excited to see what they caught.  If there was anything on the line, it was moss......which meant there were a lot of empty lines being pulled back in.

In reality, this was rather entertaining because Little Man would regularly declare, "You caught....Nothing."

Little Man would go down planks a bit to visit Grandma and Grandpa while they were fishing.  At one point, he noticed a dead fish and proceeded to tell Holly, "Don't catch the dead fish, Holly!"

Then he went back to watch her reel in another empty line, and repeated, "You caught... NOTHING."

After while, she got tired of catching "nothing" and walked down the dock and hooked the dead fish.  Before she could get it lowered back into the water, it fell off her hook and splashed her....guess that's what you get for not listening to a 3 year old about the finesse of fishing ;)

Baby Girl was getting cold, so Jake and I headed home before everyone else....but as of the time we left, everyone had "caught nothing."  So unfortunately, it looks like we won't be having fish for dinner this week.

But that's okay because at one point, I had teased Holly about not catching anything and she told me she was "casting" instead of fishing......it's like the difference between hunting and killing.   All in all, we had a good "Casting" trip and a nice drive up the mountain.

One Day, When I'm a little bigger

Kids can say the cutest things,

Tonight we went to our ward camp-out/dinner which happened to be at Palisade Park.  Our drive to and from the event took us past the Manti Temple.  Since Little Man doesn't often see the temple, we try to take the opportunity to teach about it while we pass.....which of course often includes the doctrine of eternal marriage.

Tonight was no exception.  Jake was reminding Little Man the Manti Temple was where Mommy and Daddy were married so we will all be a family forever.

The following conversation ensued.

Little Man: I'm not married.
Daddy: No, not yet.
LM: And 'Attalie (our neighbor and occasional babysitter) is not married.
Daddy: No, she isn't.
LM: One day, when I'm a little bigger, I can grow up and marry 'Attalie and she can live with us for ever and ever.

Jake and I were giggling so hard, while still trying to maintain some type of conversation encouraging Little Man to grow up and marry in the temple, while not creating unrealistic expectations of being able to marry 'Attalie.....only because I expect  'Attalie will be married before I allow Little Man to start dating.

Though I hadn't really expected to have to deal with "crushes" for a few years, I'm grateful we have a babysitter Little Man loves ;).

I'm hooked

I consider myself to be a normal person.  I have normal responsibilities like cleaning house, working, and taking care of my children.   I also have normal hobbies like reading, doing crafts, and crocheting.

Usually these normal hobbies occupy a normal (read small) amount of my time.  But occasionally I start something that I get obsessed with.

During these periods of obsession, I do the bare necessities of my normal responsibilities---dishes that don't have to be washed stay dirty, laundry stays in the hamper, toys stay spread all over the floor.  I must now apologize to my loving husband for these periods and express my gratitude for his help with the housework.

Often during these times, you will find me huddled up on the couch while my kids entertain themselves.

I recently  went through one of these periods with crocheting (thanks for not visiting my house last week ;) ).

It all started innocently enough. Baby girl was blessed in beautiful crocheted dress, and  I couldn't stand the thought of a future daughter not being blessed in a similar beautiful gown.  Fortunately, my grandma had taught me to crochet when I was a young girl.  Unfortunately, I had never attempted anything that wasn't rectangular.

Nevertheless, I found a pattern on Pinterest and gave it a shot.  It took about 7 months, but I did eventually finish it.  And I am quite pleased with the results.  It is a simple dress, but I think it is nice.

And that's when things got crazy.  Once I had finished the simple dress, I decided to try a more difficult pattern.  Only this time, I couldn't put it down.  I was totally hooked :) I crocheted at every possible moment.....and a mere 5 days after I started the second dress, it was finished!  And I think it is quite beautiful.

It turned out a little larger than I was expecting.  I was intending to make a blessing/christening dress but it happens to fit my 9 month old Princess.  So, this beautiful dress will be available on Etsy until August 29 if anyone wants it.  After that, you can see it displayed at church by the most beautiful model you'll ever see ;)  (Dress sold)

Mobile FHE

Family Home Evening with a toddler is always a bit of a challenge (one that I'm not really expecting to get any easier with teenagers, but).....

To start with, Little Man has a fairly short attention span on things he isn't directing.  This is where all that mission training on how to teach one gospel topic in a clear CONCISE manner really comes in handy.

Then, Little Man has a very long attention span on something he is directing.  (Can you say "WHY?")

But perhaps one of the most challenging aspects is that no matter where we do FHE or how clean the room is, there always seems to be something to distract his attention from the lesson.  Even if that something isn't in the room, or house, or isn't a something, but a some-event or some-conversation, or some random thought that happened to cross his mind because of what we said.

And as parents, we must learn to work around those distractions or do our best to use them to our advantage.

One recent "use it to our advantage" occurred in our family not too long ago.

Because of our driveway, Jake and I have been planning on buying a 4-wheeler since we made an offer on the house.  We are SO GRATEFUL to our wonderful family and neighbors who have come to our rescue and plowed us out each snow storm, but we still feel it is best for us to be as self-sufficient as possible.  So we recently purchased our "snow plow."

And Little Man loves going on rides with Daddy.

Well, not too long ago, Daddy took Little Man out for a ride so I could get the FHE lesson ready.  Only when they got home, Little Man did NOT want to get off the 4-wheeler.  So instead of making Little Man come to FHE, we took FHE to him!

All 4 of us sat on the 4-wheeler and had our (3 minute) FHE lesson.  And since Little Man was where he wanted to be, he was happy and attentive.  He probably paid better attention that time than he has in any other lesson.  Who knows, maybe we will have to fulfill Little Man's multiple requests since then to have FHE on the 4-wheeler :)

Falling Kisses

Bed times with a toddler can often be a bit of a challenge.  Especially with a Little Man who doesn't really like to go to sleep.

We have found that having a routine has helped a LOT so long as we start it on time.  And for the most part, we don't have too many bedtime fights with him any more.  Of course we have the occasional night where he wont go to sleep and we wind up spending an hour or so in his room before giving in and letting him sleep in our bed (before he wanders in at 3:00 a.m. anyway).

But somethings are so sweet, and so fun!

A part of our nightly bedtime routine its giving hugs and kisses.  For quite some time we have done "bear hugs" where we almost get pummeled  by his strength--he is a pretty strong 3 year old.  And yet, as energetic as his hugs are for Mommy and Daddy, he is always so tender and gentle when he gives Baby Girl her goodnight hug.

Recently though, Little Man started a new thing that I thought was pretty cute.  He gives us a kiss, then falls backwards so we have to catch him.  He told us they are "Falling Kisses."  So for now, each night, I get 3 falling kisses before he jumps over to Daddy to give more falling kisses.

So sweet, and so cute to watch them grow up.