Kenzisms - Baby Come Baby Go

We were on our way to Aunt Heather's house a few nights back to celebrate Uncle Ben's birthday. Aunt Heather just had new baby Bennett about a week ago and MaKenzie and Jordyn have been nothing short of obsessed with him. Jordyn asks to hold him, but never really puts her arms around him when you put him on her lap . . . it's really quite funny to watch. Kenzie would probably sit there all night with him in her lap if we let her.

Anyway, while we were driving to Aunt Heather and Uncle Ben's Kenzie chirped in from the back seat with a very serious question:

"Mommy, is Aunt Heather's baby going to be out of her belly tonight?"

Top Five Fridays - No Children Allowed

Today's Top Five Friday is dedicated to the top five places that I can think of that test my sanity limits when ventured into with my girls.

1. The airport.

It's busy. People are in a hurry. People can be helpful, but the pushy ones seem in greater abundance.

Every time you walk on a plane with little ones, you are greeted with some smiles and some horrified looks that seem to say "Please don't sit by me lady!"

Yes, the airport is always stressful with the little people.

2. The Post Office.

It's so quite there. Has anyone else ever noticed that? Any conversation you have is overheard by all and it's quite difficult to get your little ones to use any thing less than a VERY loud whisper in their communications with you.

3. The Grocery Store at Lunch Time

You'd think I'd never have done it more than once . . . but I am guilty of bringing hungry kids and a hungry mommy to the grocery store.

It is never pretty.

4. Okay, so I couldn't think of five things today . . . these three just leave such scars on my existence that to take it further might cause me to go into shock . . .

Real Life

I swear I have not been sitting around all day doing nothing. But some days it certainly feels like everything around me is proclaiming otherwise . . .

The undone dishes.

Only heaven knows how long that's been in there waiting to be folded? (And heaven probably has better things to do than keep tabs on my unfolded laundry . . . so really NOBODY knows how long its been.)

Oh, and the toys that I put away a few times and day and then just give up because two little people always trail along behind me to undo all of mommy's doings.

Some days these undone things drive me crazy, and others I really don't care. (And please note that the days that I really don't care tend to be less stressful and make for a nicer me.) Now why is that?

Top Five Fridays - Social Norms

I got to thinking today about all the little things that my kids do that crack me up; however, I would find these same behaviors to be quite disturbing in an adult.

So here they are, the top five social norms that our children have not quite mastered yet.

1. Announcing all bodily functions in proud and boisterous voices. Jordyn has recently crossed this line. She has about ten or fifteen words in her little vocabulary and one of them is poo-poo. She often walks around patting herself between the legs and screeching "poo-poo, poo-poo" whenever she is in need of a changing.

2. The girls are quickly crossing the lines of declaring what belongs to whom. They really do get along about 95% of the time, but there are those moments where one child snatches a toy out of the others hand's declaring "THAT'S MINE!" I'm pretty sure I'd be a bit spooked by any rational adult that snatched something out of my hands with such force. Fortunately, the girls seem to know that you don't cross the snatching line with mom and dad, but they don't seem to have any qualms about doing it to each other.

3. Kenzie is going through this phase where she randomly will take my face into her two little hands (never minding what is on those little hands) and she pulls my forehead to hers and lovingly says "I love you really so much mommy". I'm quite fond of these little moments and they always make me smile, but if any adult besides my husband tried this one it'd be tremendously awkward.

4. My children like to scream my name at the top of their lungs to get my attention . . . when they are standing RIGHT next to me. I'm pretty sure I'd jump and scream and then run if an adult standing next to me used teh same attention-getting-tactic.

5. Jordyn is currently obsessed with board books. She LOVES to sit on your lap and read. The only problem is that she tends to be a bit hostile in her demands for some reading time. She gets a board book and hits you in the chins and declares "BOOK". We are working on holding the book out and saying "book please", and she has been successful a few times; however, if you are not looking she is quite capable of catching you off guard.

Jordynisms - First Words

I can't believe my baby is already capable of having her own little "isms" category. She is growing so fast!

So here they are, a list of her current vocabulary:

Mommy: "MAMA!" (She tends to say this with a great amount of force resembling an excited sports announcer in the final moments of an intense game.)

Daddy: "DaDaDaDaDaDaDa" (She likes to pretend she is a broken record with daddy's name.)

All-Done: "Aw-dnn" (She puts up her little hands and shakes them for emphasis.)

Thank-you: "ank-ew"

Please: "esse"

Up: "Uuup, Uuup, Uuup" (Once again, the broken record. This term is usually accompanied by some tugging and begging on your legs . . . its a basic plea for "pick me up!")

Down: "Dwnn" (This one comes into play when she either wants out of your arms at the most inconvenient times, or when she is done with a meal and requires release from her high chair.)

Ball: "Baa"

Book: "Boo" (She likes to hit you in the chins with the book if are not watching)

Baby: "Bay-bay" (She is fond of her baby dolls and loves to cuddle and hold them and call them "awww, bay-bay")

Soft: "oft, oft" (She went through a face of grabbing hair, eyeballs, lips -you name it. To help her learn to stop we would take her hand and pat the person she was hurting and say"be soft, be soft" Now any time we tell her to be soft she sfotly pets herself or the victim on the head and says "oft, oft")

Snack: "SNAAA" (This is usually more of a demand than a request)

More: "Mo" (She does the sign for this one)

Sippy: "Ippee"

Poo-Poo: "Poo-poo"

Yes: "ess" (accompanied by a violent nod of the head)

No: "No" (accompanied by a violent shake of the head)

Cheese: "esse" (This term can be used for the snack or for a response to a camera pointed in her direction.)

Project Bewitch - Rule #2

Alright, another strategy that I have found helpful during those last few anxious hours of the day comes in play about a half hour before Daddy comes home . . .

MUSIC!

Depending on the day and the mood I pick something different. If I feel like jamming with the girls then we get something more upbeat going, if I am feeling frantic and stressed then something more soothing and relaxing does the trick.

Music isn't ALWAYS helpful. Sometimes it just adds to the noise and chaos, but I do find that there are days that it helps.

So there you go! Another little helpful tip that I have found useful for those crazy moments (that can feel like weeks) before daddy walks through the door.

FHE - Prayer

I am going to try and get back in the habit of posting what we are doing for some of our Family Home Evenings. (I don't know that I really deserve to say "get back in the habit" due to the fact that I have only posted two or three of our lessons . . . )

I kind of envision being able to create a blogbook of sorts that includes all of the family home evening lessons that I create. I think this would be something great to pass on to my kids. It can be time consuming to gather all the materials and to study different sources to create a whole lesson. 99% of what I put together is a combination of other people's ideas, but it would be nice to still have it all back in one spot. (And lets be honest, I also want to cheat and recycle lessons that the kids are a fan of . . . repetition is a kids best friend AND a busy moms delight.)

I will begin each lesson with "The Inspiration". This is just the inspiration behind the lesson for that week. (There isn't always an inspiration, I tend to usually fly by the seat of my pants, but I find that if I AM actually being vigilant that there is usually something that happens in the week that can easily be turned into a family home evening.)

So here it is . . .

INSPIRATION:

This week's lesson is on praying. Kenzie has gotten a little bit wiggly lately during almost all prayer times - which is to be expected of a three-year-old; but Garrett and I still thought that it might be helpful to talk about some of the reasons why we are reverent during prayers and practice the right way to pray. We really want her to come to understand that prayer is a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father that she can treasure and use at any moment in her life.

SPIRITUAL PREPARATION:

• The following preparation suggestion was taken from the church nursery manual Behold Your Little Ones: Through prayer we can talk with our Heavenly Father. We tell Him we love Him, we thank Him for blessings, and we ask for help for ourselves and for others in need. We end our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ. Prayer is one of the greatest blessings we have while we are here on earth. (See Matthew 6:9–13; Alma 34:18–27; 3 Nephi 18:19–21.)
• I also read a talk from President Henry B Eyring that is FULL of inspiration on the reasons why prayer is so vital for the protection and guidance that I want so badly for our children. The talk is entitled "That He May Write Upon Our Hearts". Click HERE for the link.

PHYSICAL PREPARATION:

• Flip chart for opening song (look under opening song for more specific directions)
• A picture of Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount such as picture number 212 in the Gospel Art Picture Kit. Click HERE for a link to this picture. (see item number one of the lesson to see how this will be used) - I liked a suggestion from page 15 of this months Ensign that is talking about sharing the scriptures with your children. It was suggested by one mother to print a copy of the picture for each family member to se and handle to help encourage excitement about what you are talking about.
• (optional) A notebook and stickers that your child has picked out (see item number four in the lesson for more information)
• Paper and crayons/colored pencils for each family member (see item number five in the lesson)
• The girls and I are going to make the brownies to take to neighbors earlier in the day so that we can be ready to deliver them right after the lesson, but you could make them as a family too if you want! It is just close to bedtime around here and I didn't want to add the extra thirty to forty minutes of brownie making time to the FHE when the kids will be getting close to the extremely grumpy hour.

OPENING SONG: I Pray in Faith, Children's Songbook pg. 14 Click HERE for a copy/link.

• visual for the song: Page 19 of the nursery manual Behold Your Little One's had a little flip chart that you can create and use as a fun visual/interaction for the second verse of the song. Click HERE for a link to the lesson. Simply click on the chart under preparation (NOT THE ONE UNDER FLIP CHART) and a window will come up to print it out right there.

SCRIPTURE: We are currently working on memorizing James 1:5 as a family. If any of you are interested in the word document that I put together for a visual for this scripture I would be happy to email it to you. Just leave me a comment and I can pass it along. I have no idea if it is possible to post documents to a blog?

LESSON:

1. JESUS TAUGHT: Roll play and discussion with the Sermon on the Mount.

Hold up a picture of Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount and ask:

"Who is this?"

Talk about how this is Jesus and all of his disciples.

"Do you know what a disciple is?"

(Answer: a personal follower of Jesus.)

Briefly teach about the Sermon on the Mount in a dialogue/discussion similar to the following: (See Matt 6:5-15 for the Savior's teaching on prayer)

"This picture shows Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount to all his disciples. They gathered on a mountainside and He taught them lots and lots of things about how to be happy and follow Him. Do you see the mountains? Where are the mountains?

One of the things that Jesus taught His disciples on the mountainside was how to pray. He taught them them to pray in secret and not to pray for everyone to see. Can we pretend to pray secretly without anyone else seeing?" (Have the whole family to pretend to go into their bedroom or a closet to pray all by themselves and while you are pretending explain to everyone that when we pray we get to say very special things to Heavenly Father that are only between us and Heavenly Father.)

After you have pretended to pray in secret you could talk about how some prayers we say all together as a family or all together as a church, but we don't do this to brag about how good we are and for the whole world to, but to be better at worshipping our Father in Heaven.

Show the picture of the Sermon on the Mount again and continue

"Jesus also taught during the Sermon on the Mount that we start our prayer by recognizing our Father in Heaven by name. Then we can pray for things like help to be forgiving, help to get the things that we need to be comfortable, and help to not be tempted by Satan. What are some other things that we can pray about?"

2. SING A SONG

Sing the opening song with the flip chart and repeat it a few times allowing everyone a turn to flip the chart open during the appropriate times.

3. QUESTION AND ANSWER

Ask some or all of the following questions and talk a little bit about each one.

So what do we do with our bodies when we pray?

Can you show me what it looks like when we pray?

Why do we sit reverently when we pray?

4. APPLICATION: Reverence Bag

Garrett and I were talking about ways to make sacrament meeting a little bit less wiggly and I thought it might be fun to try a reverence bag of sorts. I have set aside some toys and books that are a little bit more quite (i.e. the magna-doodle things, small flannel board, sticker books, small dry erase boards, the sewing string boards, colored pencils, gospel board books, old friend magazines, and toys that don't make noise for Jorydn.) On Saturday night we are going to try to get in the habit of packing our reverence bag by picking some of these items from a box that I have set aside and putting them in her bag. As part of this we will start a little scripture journal for her. I am going to take her to the store tomorrow to pick out a journal or binder of the cheap sort that we will call her scripture journal and I will also let her pick out some special stickers. On the inside flap of the journal I will make a chart that she can place a sticker on every time that she sits ALL the way through a prayer during sacrament meeting or family prayers. We will present this book and chart to her during family home evening. We will tell her that the journal is something that she can have during scripture study and during church to draw pictures or write words about what she thinks or feels or hears. We're hoping that this will add a little fun reminder to pray without wiggling all over the place . :)

5. DRAW A PICTURE FOR THE SCRIPTURE WALL

Pages 12-15 of this months Ensign has some great stuff on teaching our children from the scriptures. One of the ideas for young children is to have a scripture wall where you display pictures that have been drawn by your children with statements underneath about what their picture is showing. I think I am going to try this starting tonight. I will get back out the picture of the Savior at the Sermon on the Mount and we can all draw a picture of what we see and talk about what we are drawing while we go along. Then I will glue Kenzie's to some card stock or construction paper and we can start our own scripture wall in her toy room. We will write a little statement at the bottom summarizing what the picture shows and try to refer back to these pictures throughout the weeks to come.

ACTIVITY:

We are going to take brownies over to some of our new neighbors in our cul-de-sac to more officially introduce ourselves to them.

TREAT:

We are going to save a plate of those brownies for our own treat! :)