Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Primary Program


Everyone here seemed to think I was strange for requesting that we have the Primary Program Sept. 26. A few people said to me, "Isn't it supposed to be in the 4th quarter?" (I guess we're a week or two early. Come on folks, the spirit of the law--not the letter!) But as the primary choister, I have to say, the kids and I were getting tired of practicing the same songs over and over and I wanted some time to learn some fun primary songs with less pressure. Besides if we waited till the 4th quarter, the earliest we could schedule it would have been Oct. 31. Who wants to deal with a Halloween Primary Program!

We were a little stressed out when we found out the week before that in addition to the primary program, our ward would be getting a new bishopric, and we'd have a confirmation. Those of you who don't know, a new bishopric usually takes the entire sacrament meeting. Just how long could we expect our little ones to sit still on the stand? I also worried that calling a new bishop would take away from the attention the kids deserved for all of their hard work. I also worried that parents wouldn't be able to find a seat with all of the extra family there for the new bishopric. Well I didn't sleep much and I know that many of us were praying hard!

I love our stake president. He handled the change quickly, introduced the new Bishop, invited him to share a brief testamony, and refocused everyone on the Primary children with his own testamony. It was handled the best it could have been. Our program did go 1/2 hour over sacrament meeting time (but it's not like we were going to cut any child's part). The kids did such a great job. When it was their turn, they jumped right in like nothing had happened at all. I was thrilled for them. They sang very well and more kids memorized their parts than I remember from the past few years.

I was especially proud of my own boys. I worried that they'd get confused because they both knew eachothers' part, but they didn't. Liam had two parts. First he talked with his Sunbeams class about the prophets. His part was, "My middle name is Joseph for Joseph in the Bible and Joseph Smith. Our prophet President Monson liked to play trains when he was a little boy and I like to play trains too." His second part was his reciting the 6th article of faith. It's quite a mouthful for a sunbeam. "We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, namely apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists and so forth." Liam not only gave it perfectly, but he sang it into the microphone! We had taught it to him using the song to help him remember it and so he sang it that way for the meeting. He got the most Oos and Ahhs. --not that I'm biased at all (many people told me that it was the best part of the program)! Daniel also did a great job. He recited, "And by the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10:5" He also shared an experience when he felt the Holy Ghost tell him to let his little brother Liam play a game first (it was a Star Wars game of course). He did and he felt good. The Holy Ghost was truly present in the meeting, in answer to my prayers as a mom and the Primary Chorister. I am one proud mama. Standing up there with their shirts and ties--these are our future missionaries!

The program was stressful, but I love being in primary with my boys and I love the music. I have to admit, I'm already a little worried about next year's program, now that I've looked at the music for 2011. I guess I'm a lost cause.

Cute Caleb

When Grandma Bohman was out here visiting, Caleb loved playing lightsabers with her. He would hand her a lightsaber or Star Wars gun and say, "Come on, follow me". Then he would lead the way outside or to his room, where he thought it was a good place for an attack. He never got tired of it. Grandma was a very good sport. In his prayers one night Caleb blessed, "Grandma Ahsoka". We had to explain that Ahsoka is Caleb's favorite Star Wars character (The padowan learner of Anakin in the Clone Wars). Really it was a compliment coming from Caleb. She may be Grandma Growley Bear to my other boys, but she is Grandma Ahsoka to Caleb.

One night I cut up fresh pineapple to eat with our dinner. While his brothers were still outside playing, Caleb retrieved a straw from the drawer and went around to each serving of pineapple and sucked up all of the yummy pineapple juice. The boy has good taste. It made me laugh.

Sometimes I'm surprised by what our kids actually notice. A friend of mine (Laura) knew I was having a hard week, so she sent her oldest daughter over to babysit the boys and took me with her to get a pedicure. Actually, I'd never had one before, and it was really relaxing. Then in Caleb's prayers that night, when he blessed everyone in the family, he got to me and said, "bless Mommy pretty toes". He sure knows how to butter me up. The last time (years ago) I even tried painting my own toe nails, Daniel came to me asked why I had paint all over my toes? Apparently he didn't share Caleb's opinion that it was pretty.

Grandma's Visit

Everytime Grandma comes to visit she knows she's in for a circus. This time we actually took her to the circus. All three of the boys entered a coloring contest in the newspaper and we won tickets! We couldn't pass it up, so we took Daniel out of school on Friday to go. Grandma had never been to the circus and aside from the deafening speakers, we had a wonderful time. Grandma got Daniel and Liam each a tiger stuffed animal and Caleb got an elephant.Before the real show started we watched the elephants and a few other animals outside. The boys were fascinated that the elephants were potty trained to unload into a huge bucket. Wow, I'm glad I don't have to clean up after that! A bathroom for 3 little boys is bad enough.
The show was amazing. Of course we loved the tiger tamer surrounded by about 10 tigers, and the elephants. The acrobats were incredible. But one of our favorite parts was a trampoline act. The brightly colored costumes and the perfectly orchestrated moves looked amazing almost like tropical fish on the coral reef.
It was a fun day. On the way home Daniel started asking when the Circus would be back in town again. Caleb and Liam didn't say so much....

Saturday we went to Daniel's soccer game. Before the game started Daniel's team did a team-building exercise where they had to run across the field all holding together. I got the picture while they still look like a team and before they started running over each other and tripping on those who were lagging behind. It was kind of funny. I wonder if 6-year-olds understood the message behind the task. It was entertaining to watch though. Daniel did a good job and it was fun to show Grandma how great he is. This is his first year playing in a bigger field with a whole team. It has been quite an adjustment to learn positions and the real rules to the game.
After soccer we headed to the park to watch the annual Air Show. This year didn't have as many of the big name flight teams, but it was still fun to watch. Inbetween the jets and planes, the boys had lots of fun cooling off in the water.
In the next picture Caleb was having fun in the sandbox. He reminds me of a bug stuck on its back.
When we got home we built an IKEA shelf for the living room. The boys were thrilled to get a new box that became their "boat".
On Sunday we went to church and my mom got to experience the chaos and disarray that come when you practice for the primary program for the first time. That afternoon we had the missionaries for dinner. We try to get them one Sunday each month so that hopefully our boys will see what good missionaries are grow up planning on serving their own missions. This time we were totally lucky. The dinner took a little longer than we'd hoped to cook so the missionaries pulled out an awesome object lesson for my boys to try out. It involved balancing nails in a house shape on one nail. Very impressive. It could be used to explain that all our teachings rest on the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith's experience, or to show the keystone of our religion. It was a good one. I hope my boys remember these experiences and bring great messages into others' homes (both member and nonmember).
As is tradition, the boys love cooking and especially making cookies with Grandma. This time the boys chose to make cyclops cookies (the peanut butter cookies with the hershey's kiss on top). It's amazing with so many little helpers that any of the cookies made it into the oven to be baked.
We all love our time with Grandma, but this time was especially fun for Caleb. He handed Grandma a light saber and said, "Follow me." Then he took off through the house and outside. Wherever he felt the force strong enough he paused to have a duel. Then he took off again, instructing Grandma to follow. He actually started calling Grandma "Grandma Asouka". Even in his prayers he blessed Grandma Asouka. That is quite an honor since Asouka is Caleb's favorite Star Wars character (from the Clone Wars--Anakin's padawan learner).
Grandma is such a great sport. The force was definitely strong with this one!
On Nathan's birthday we got up and made him pancakes. The boys couldn't wait to give him his presents (Star Wars legos and other legos). They also gave him the cards they made. (Daniel's said, "From the child who loves you most".) That night Grandma watched the boys so Nathan and I could have a night out.
While we were out Grandma made puppets with the boys. Daniel chose a penguin, Liam an alligator, and Caleb a puppy. They turned out really cute. Daniel has made a list (that fills every inch of a paper) of all of the puppets they still need to make. I guess Grandma will just have to move closer to us.
We had such a fun time with Grandma, but our time ran out before we fit in all of the things we'd hoped to do. We can't wait for Grandma to come visit again.

Nathan's Birthday







This year I'd planned on going all-out like last year with a big rock band party for Nathan, but between scheduling the building, and finding a day people were in town, and getting the projector equipment--it didn't work out. Hopefully, we'll do that again soon but for now it's on hold. This year Nathan didn't get all of our attention at work because he had the day off. That morning the boys helped me make Nathan breakfast. They also gave him the cards they made him. (Daniel's said, "From the child who loves you most.") They also gave him Star Wars Legos. Grandma was here and volunteered to watch the boys for us so we could have an evening out. We went to a movie (a disappointment) and then an old fashioned milkshake place. Yummy! GG, our sweet neighbor brought over a cake. Later in the week, Fabio (another neighbor and friend) took Nathan to the RC raceway to drive fast and furious. He had a great time. Finally, I made Nathan his traditional cut-out cake yesterday. I decided on Dr. Doofenshmirz from the cartoon Phineus and Ferb. He held a sign that said, "No time for the back-story but my 'un-birthday-inator' backfired and now everyone in the tri-state area wishes you a Happy Birthday!" (This will only make sense to you if you watch Phineus and Ferb.) Jim and Melanie came over to eat cake and ice cream with us. It hasn't been a normal birthday, but hopefully still a good one. We are so lucky to have a dad/husband who is so much fun. Love you Nathan.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Potty Mouth Liam


A few nights ago Liam was looking at a tooth pillow that Grandma made him (she made one for both Daniel and Liam, when Daniel got his first loose tooth at her house). Then he turned to me and said, "When are my guts (gums) going to poop my teeth out?" I never thought loosing a tooth could sound quite so gross. Leave it to Liam, my little potty mouth!

The Caleb Chronicles


Caleb was not happy about Liam starting preschool again. He cried the whole way from Mather to Costco and kept saying, "Caleb...Paigie's too". (I had just dropped Liam off at Paige's house.) He really thinks of himself as being a big boy, like his brothers. In some ways that is a positive. He asked to use the potty a month or so ago, and he goes on it about 3 or 4 + times a day now (He says, "Potty try"). On Thursday he even pooped on it! For those of you too far removed from potty training, sorry--but that is quite an accomplishment. Especially since I haven't even tried to train him yet. (I didn't think I'd even consider it until he was 2 1/2! Actually, I'm tempted to delay it for a long time because my boys--including Nathan, all think they get a puppy when he's potty trained. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.)

Last week while we were grocery shopping Caleb somehow injured his arm. He wasn't grasping things without whimpering and crying. (I knew it was serious when he wouldn't hold a cookie.)
So I took him in and found out that he had 'nursemaid's elbow'. Basically, the ligament in his elbow popped out into the wrong position. The doctor showed me how to pop it back in. Hopefully it doesn't happen again any time soon. The doctor said that it is more likely once it happens to get it again. My mom once again informed me that he's just taking after me.

Caleb is such a fun age. We find ourselves laughing all the time at the things he says and does. In the car he already makes music requests. He asks for the "Angel jets song" ie: "Dreams" by Van Halen. (Nathan has the song with the Blue Angels flying on his computer). He also takes part in our Slug Bug games and announces 'Ugg Bug down street'. (We have yet to see a slug bug where he points, but he is thrilled to participate.) Caleb has also taken to calling me "Sweetie" lately. I guess he just says it because I call him that sometimes. It is so cute. He is still very well mannered...he not only says thank you but also you're welcome. Actually he says, "Thank you you're welcome." He doesn't realize that the other person is supposed to respond 'you're welcome'.

Caleb wants to play lightsabers all the time. He thinks the sound effect for it is "chee wah", so he hands me a lightsaber and picks one up for himself to play with and swings away saying, "Chee wah....chee wah!" When there are no lightsabers a stick, a rock, or just about anything will become "chee wah".

The other day Caleb lifted his fists high above his head and made a grunting noise, like he was struggling against a heavy weight. Upon closer examination I found he had two sets of lego wheels in his fists. I had to laugh. They do look like mini barbells. Caleb knew was he was doing. That's my kind of workout.

Caleb got ahold of my makeup the other day and I had to take a picture before I washed it off. He is always mad that I'm not more willing to share my makeup with him.


Caleb is growing up so fast. He's definitely a challenge to keep up with, but I'm so glad he's a part of our family.