Church July 9, 2006

I just love church. In Releif Society we had our lesson on Journals. A typical reaction to that from me would be, not another one. Ladee ladee. But I listened anyway and picked up a few things. The lesson was taken out of the Wilford Woodruff manuel. It was interesting that he didn't start his journal untill he was 28, then never stopped. Interesting that's how old I am right now. Anyway, at the end of the lesson my teacher mentioned that she feels real impressed that someone in that room needs to hear something, that they needed this lesson imparticular not so much for them but for their children. That when and what they write in their journal will be an example to their children and that they need to start writting in their journal for them. Now I would be a bad mother I think if I didn't take that to heart in some way. Not that she was talking to me, but what if she was? I would be depriving my children of something of the unknown. So, I am going to start again. Not like everyday by any means, but when things happen in some larger nature I will write it down in a journal. Since I don't have one ready to write in at this moment I am using my blog to start my more detailed feelings and thougths. I want to start off with my children.

Shane: Today he is 4 years and 6 months. He loves to play with his little sister Canberra. Some things he does frequently are: shakes his head on her belly to make her laugh, blows in her face, carries her around the house, bonks her head with his fist (he does do this lightly), plays peek-a-boo with her when she is standing in her crib, pretty much laughs at everything she does, shows her how to build with legos, plays with her while I rock Seth to sleep at nap time, likes to spray water in her face. Other things Shane likes right now are his movies, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and is always excited when I put on an Einstein video. He likes to play with legos (mainly making guns and big buildings), his castle people, he loves to write his letters and draw pictures, he likes to take all his toys and put them in a circle to make a fort or house. Computer is the big time taker now. He loves to play Halo yet he enjoys the others like telletubbies, It's a big world and Clifford. Shane is very gentle with animals and babies. He loves his pet rat Mochs. He does real well with him and did from the beginning when Mochs was little tiny. It's a little hard to get Shane to laugh but when something is funny you can't stop him. He isn't that tickelish really but sometimes you can get a spot. At this moment he is in a stage where he thinks he doesn't like peanut butter sandwiches or macaroni and cheese. If a piece of food lands on the table he won't eat it cuz it's now yucky. He is very shy. He doesn't like to go infront of people or be put on the spot. It takes a lot to get him to do something new that's a little scary. He did enjoy going into the cave with daddy, but won't jump off the diving board. He no longer takes naps. He is about to go into pre-school. We just cut his hair very short, we were growing it out to see if he would get his curles back and he did, only not as tight. It was getting real hot and in the way so we cut it. He has been 100% potty trained for about 1 year now. He is very bossy right now and wants things done his way and only his way, when it comes to playing with Seth. He likes to tell us his "stories" or the dreams he has in detail (the movies he sees in his eyes). Swimming or anything outside is his favorite, he loves fireworks, smooshing ants or any kind of bug, dirt, rocks or water. A typical boy in these areas. Although he doesn't like it when the bugs are on him! He learns very quickly and has a great memory, he knows how to write his name all by himself (he learned that about 1 year ago as well) and writting all the capitol letters and is working on his lowercase letters. He is very loving and shows his affection often. I get hugs and kisses and I love you's all day from Shane. He will stay in bed when it's time to sleep and pretty much does what you ask, he is a BIG helper around the house. Shane will ususally walk away from a fight with little brother even though he started it. The mountains are his favorite subject to talk about in the car and almost knows the names of the surrounding mountians here in Tucson, which ones have roads and which ones you can only walk on. Some classic Shane words we don't want to forget: Daadoo, nilk, fungala tree, youyanie, spookie spook, faunanu, infected, invisible, $13, poopoo this and poopoo that, floke.

Seth: He is 3 years and 2 months. Drama drama drama. I have to say it's a good thing I am writting about Seth now and not 10 months ago! He has changed alot, for the better, and I made it! He was a little get into everything you can see, and not see. You had to watch him every half second of the day. And that was pretty hard being pregnant at the same time! Hair for Seth will be a buzz cut for a while. He is so active all the time that he gets hot easily and long hair just bothers him. So it's either a long buzz or a super short buzz. He is always getting hurt somehow, bonks and bruises, scrapes and cuts. He will play by himself happily but does well learning how to play Shane's way. He loves to play computer, especially Halo and does very well at it for his age, he remembers all the buttons and what they do! He loves the other computer games also. Legos are a big hit of course and the bugs, ants,rocks and dirt. What ever Shane is doing Seth is usually playing right there with him. Seth isn't afraid of anything really. He loves jumping off the diving board into the pool. He likes to play with Canberra but not as often as Shane. He wants to eat ALL THE TIME, he loves any food, especially fruit. He is always hungry and always wants something to eat. When he does eat he will put as much food in his mouth as he can like a chipmunk. When he wakes up from his naps or night time, he always has his blanket in his hand (his favorite is his purple blanket), eye's still half shut, and walks around till he finds us and cuddles for a few minutes then is ready to play. He likes to watch movies but usually only half way and then goes off to play. Seth is VERY tickelish. It's very easy to make him laugh. And he laughs! Seth is full of energy all the time. Unless he is exhausted he will not stay in bed at night, he is not potty trained, not even close. He is too busy for that. Seth is our solid tough boy that can scare his big brother at times. He will win at wrestling and even the fist fights with Shane. He is at the stage of wanting to do everything himself. He has to give everyone hugs and kisses before they leave or he throws a fit. Seth likes to color and draw pictures, mostly of spiders. We don't want to forget: brink, his tucson, running with his elbows out and kicking his legs out at the same time, his hop and stop to pick things up, his head slide crawl, pawcorn (ice-cream),

Canberra: Just turned 8 months old. Happy happy happy. That is our little Canberra. She smiles and smiles and laughs and laughs. She will pretty much smile at everyone and everything. She is very content. More so when Daddy bounces her to sleep. I am still nursing her full time along with her baby food which she has liked so far. She also enjoys when we give her little somethings from our plate. She is crawling around pretty fast now although I think she would rather be walking. She will pull herself up to stand every chance she gets. She also loves when her brothers play with her. They can keep her entertained long enough for me to get work done around the house most of the time. When she is tired and wants to sleep, she will let you know. Her schedual right now is pretty much clock work. We always wrap her in a blanket and put mits on her hands. She likes to feel something in her hands I think. She wakes up at about 6:00-6:30am, plays for about 15 minutes in her crib then will stand up in her crib and fuss a little till we go in there, change her and feed her. Then she will play about 2 hours and wants to sleep again for her morning nap. She sleeps for about 2 hours. Then will play for another 2-3 hours and then wants to take her afternoon nap. She will sleep a good 2-3 hours this time and then we put her to bet around 7:30-8:00pm. She will sleep soundly all night. That's Canberra's day in a nut shell. She has got a personality this little girl of ours. She is very expressive with her face and hands and body language. She likes putting her hands in a fist and getting all tense with her arms infront of her, scrunching her face up while breathing heavy out of her nose and rocking back and forth in her chair at the table. She is starting to explore the house more instead of just sitting in one room and playing with a toy or two. She doesn't have a favorite toy as yet, she plays with what the boys are playing with, mostly legos and bad guys. We can't forget the cry breaker that works every time: give her a candy rapper, her favorite would be the fruit snack bag. Otherwise she is crawling around following me where ever I go in the house. Canberra has always loved the water and being outside. You can do almost anything with her, she even lets me put her tiny bit of hair in pig tails, clips and paint her toe nails. She likes to be held although she isn't a big cuddler. It sounds like she is starting to say Daddy and MaMa but only random times. So it's coming I think. She likes to growl when she is concentrating on something or if she gets bonked by her brothers she will growl instead of scream. Her sounds right now are ba ba ba ba. You can tickle her and get laughs, throw her around and get laughs and look at her and get laughs. She went on a swing for the first time on the 4th of July and loved it right away. She doesn't seem to be afraid of anything at the moment. She even likes Mochs our pet rat. When she is nursing she likes to pinch my skin or grab onto my clothes. If mama walks into the room or out of the room and Canberra sees her, she will cry. Cute little things we don't want to forget: Her little first finger in her mouth when she gets attention, her tounge going side to side in her bottom lip, chunky cheekers, pointy tounge.

These are my children to date. I'm sure I left a bunch out so I will most likely add them in as I think of them, but I wanted to start my journaling out with my children. That's a good start I think. I don't have the time or patience to really go back into time and write about everything that happened since my last journal entry back in February 21, 2001. Right before I got married. I would like to write about my wedding day, but it's not the same. Now is better then never so I will start with the now and future. My state of mind right now: Doing things for my family that will get us back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. That's not laundry, dishes, vaccuming, mopping and dusting. Although, if you think about it, those things are keeping my family healthy physically, and I am doing all those things too often. It's the spiritual that I am working on for myself and my children. Getting them to a point where they can recognize the spirit and gain a personal testimony is my #1 goal right now. We have our family prayers, and started our family home evenings about 1 month ago. We are doing so well so far I am so happy. It's so important and I am so glad we are doing it again. There is so much more I want our family to be. It starts with me and I am working on getting myself there. But at least we have started in the right direction, we are not stagnant, we are not going downhill, we are going up. That's all that matters, as long as we are going up! Shane and Seth are at the age now where the lessons at FHE are crucial. They soak it in. It's such a great teaching opportunity of things spiritual and even not spiritual but essential. We have started our food storage too. I am so relieved. It really hit me a few months ago that we needed to start collecting our food storage and our emergancy essentials. It's not just me and Daniel anymore, we have 3 children now that will be depending on us in a crisis. I am so thankful for my teacher today. Whether Heavenly Father was talking to me or someone else, at least I am doing what the Prophet is asking and the Prophets have asked me to do by keeping a journal. I am going to try and record all that I can, and would have liked to of known about my ancestors. So I will start with this.