Computer Savvy

A couple of months ago, Brynn called with a computer question. I was able to answer it and help her successfully finish her project. Then she said, "You know, when I was wondering who to call to help me, you were not the first person to come to mind. I don't think of you as a computer whiz." I just laughed. Little does she know.
I actually don't consider myself a computer whiz, but I am able to figure things out and know how to use my computer. One example is my new blog design. Megan tried to change her design, and it messed everything up. I changed my design perfectly. Brynn thinks of Megan as more of a computer whiz than I am. Ha, Ha. I won this challenge. Just kidding. I don't compete. But I do like my new design.
The end.

Little Ariel

A little background for the next story:
Josh has always loved MacGyver. A few years ago, his mom gave him a season on DVD. Since then it has been his mission to collect all of the seasons. We finished with the final season for Christmas. Through all of this, the kids have also come to like MacGyver. It is very action-packed, so some people are surprised that I let my kids watch it. But, MacGyver doesn't swear, drink alcohol, use guns, etc. So I figure he's an okay hero for the kids. Anna has fallen in love with him. When the opening credits are playing with the music, she will kiss the T.V. screen. We don't actually encourage her infatuation, but it keeps growing. Her latest is that when she grows up she is going to marry MacGyver and live in his house. Every once in a while she thinks of something that could alter her plans, like maybe he's too old and will die before she grows up. Now that you know of her infatuation, you will understand the humor of the next story.

Anna just finished watching "The Little Mermaid." She has always really liked that show. She just came in, quite sad, and cried to me "When I grow up, I will miss Little Ariel." She is often dramatic, so we just brushed it off saying, "You won't miss little Ariel." She kept crying about it, however, so I finally asked "Why will you miss Little Ariel?" She replied, almost hysterically, "Because there are no stores where MacGyver lives." She was worried she wouldn't be able to buy her own copy. Josh told her she could take our copy and now she is happy.

Funny Ryna-guy

Ryan just helped his dad mop the floor. He then threw the rag in the garbage. Josh fished it out of the garbage to take down to the laundry.

Meanwhile, Emma was giving Tyler piggy-back rides. Ryan took one look at them and said, "Just a minute." He then ran to the kitchen, grabbed the dirty rag and brought it to Emma. He proceeded to reach up to her face with it, trying to wash her face. Ewww. Emma of course dropped Tyler in her attempt to escape the dirty cleaning.


P.S. When Anna was younger, she couldn't say Ryan and called him Ryna. Instead of Ry-guy, he became Ryna-guy.

It's a love thing

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I know this is supposed to be a sweethearts day, but when I was growing up it was more of a family love day. I guess that's one of the reasons I like this day. I remember a couple of Valentine's days when I was growing up that we got a special kind of taffy. I don't know where it came from, only that we each got a little piece of this special taffy. I also have memories of making cookies and decorating them, making Valentines for friends together and making boxes or fancy envelopes to bring the Valentines home in. We had fun delivering Valentines annonymously to grandparents. Our favorite song for the season was "knock, knock, knock and run, run, run, today is Valentine's Day."

So now that I have my own little family, I once again thoroughly enjoy this day. I had fun making Valentines with my kids. I had fun making and decorating cookies. I have looked forward for two weeks to making more of my dad's fudge (since I don't know where to get that yummy taffy). I love getting Valentines cards from my kids and giving them in return.

By the way, Josh has always made this a special day for me. I don't require overly priced flowers or fancy chocolates. M&Ms work fine. He always writes a nice card for me, even if it's on a piece of notebook paper. Today he is showing me the ultimate act of love by cleaning the kitchen and folding the laundry.

I totally agree with people that this holiday is overrated and commercialized. We should show our love on every day of the year without spending loads of money. But I also love traditions and making memories and showing those around me how much I appreciate them.

Dolphins

Emma loves to read my blog and contribute ideas for posts. Today she gave me an idea--word for word. Here it goes.
This morning Anna was taking a bath. She started making weird growling noises, so Emma went to check on her. She found Anna "swimming" on her belly. Anna noticed Emma and said, "I'm a dolphin!" It was pretty funny.

Tyler's artistic interpretation

Several weeks ago I posted some of the pictures that Emma has taken. She really has an eye for creativity and photography. Tyler has his own interpretation of art. Let's just say he does better with words.

Another First

Sophie had her first taste of solid food today! She wasn't sure about it at first, but ended up eating most of what we made for her.

One of the things that I have loved about having a baby now is that every milestone becomes a family affair. It was like this with Ryan, too, although maybe not to the same extent. It's fun to watch everyone cheer Sophie on when she is trying something new. Anna helped me make the cereal; Emma took some pictures; Ryan got a spoon and helped feed Sophie; Tyler watched intently as she took her first hesitant bites. Everyone is very involved with everything Sophie does.

One of the things that I kind-of miss is quiet moments with my baby. I always have someone to help me do everything for Sophie. Maybe that's why I don't mind sleeping with her right now. It's my time alone with just Sophie. With Emma, Tyler and even Anna, I had time every day with just the baby. I've had to get more creative to find one-on-one time. Don't get me wrong, I love the time I spend with everyone. I love when all of them are gathered on or around me to make Sophie laugh, or to do school together, or whatever. But I also love getting my one-on-one time.

Last night I got to have some alone time with Ryan. During church he fell off the bench 3 times. So, in our private conversation, I asked him what was wrong. He looked very thoughtful and replied, "Heavenly Father sit on the bench with me." I'm not sure if it was an answer to the question, or if he was feeling something profound. Josh irreverently joked that He didn't leave enough room for Ryan, which is why he kept falling. We might never know.

Cute little Sophie

Anna thought it would be really funny to give Sophie the flag during morning pledge. Sophie thought it was funny, too. Emma immediately got the camera and started snapping pictures. We have a lot of fun in school.

Friends

Emma doesn't really like doing her math. She is good at it, she just doesn't like it. I have to sit next to her and say, "Okay, now do the next one," for every problem. Yesterday I was getting a little frustrated because there was a lot to get done in a short amount of time. I had to leave to go to the doctor, so we really had to get done. When I did leave I was wondering what I would have to do to get her to do her math by herself. Then I remembered my younger years (even into high school and beyond). There are some things that I don't like doing by myself. My mom would often busy herself at the table while I did my homework, just so I would have someone with me. Even when I started teaching school, I would bring home papers to correct, and sit with my mom (who was doing her own thing) and correct. I realized that Emma might always need someone by her to get her math done. She is very independent in other areas.

I still don't like cooking by myself. I like to have people in the kitchen to talk to while I cook. They don't have to do anything, just be there. I don't like doing crafts by myself. I do, because there isn't always someone to do them with. Today I was lucky enough to have Brynn come and make bows and clips with me. I like having someone there to talk to and bounce ideas off of. I don't like going shopping by myself. I like to have a friend to go with me. Emma is getting old enough to give me great opinions on my style, so she is good to go shopping with. I guess what it all comes down to is I like friends. Even though I have always considered myself a shy and quiet person, I still like to have people with me. I do cherish my alone time, but I love company and happiness and visiting and friends.

Goings on

The kids have joined forces to write a book. Tyler started it and entitled it "Zoo Life." It doesn't have much to do with zoos, except there is a tiger and a penguin. The zookeeper is shot, and the kids have to escape from the zoo because the new zookeeper is really mean and will shoot the animals. They end up traveling through a desert, getting stuck in a sand storm. The kids have to hide the penguin and the tiger under their shirts to get them through the sand storm. They spend a lot of time in the desert, finding an oasis and a waterfall. They start to run out of food, but one of the kids is lucky enough to have a box of Mac and Cheese! When Emma read what Tyler had started, she said, "It doesn't make any sense!" Which is true. But then she started adding parts to the story, so now it doesn't matter to her if it makes sense, just if it is readable. Even Anna has added a page or two to the story. We go through tons of paper!

After church today (which, by the way, was testimony meeting day) Anna announced, quite loudly, "I want to go home, and that is my testimony!"

Josh had to help out in nursery today. When I went in to get Sophie to feed her, Josh was on the floor with all the nursery kids surrounding him and playing with him. Little kids seem to flock to him.

We went to the Draper Temple open house on Friday. It was absolutely beautiful. It was nice to be there with all of the kids. They were perfect all evening. Well, there were a few tears since we had to wait for 20 minutes for the bus to take us back to the car and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. But overall, it was a wonderful evening. Even Sophie was fascinated by the beauty in the temple. Ryan looked at the baptismal font and said, "There's the water and there's the cows." After the open house we went out to Applebee's. (We had promised the kids, so even though it was late, we kept the promise.) We were supposed to have a wait of 45 min. for a table, but Josh talked them into moving around some other tables which made the wait 3 minutes. We were very grateful. Emma and Tyler had a gift card for a free meal since they had participated in a poetry festival a couple days before. They each recited a poem in front of many other people. They did great and we all got to enjoy their reward.