Say What?

*One night while trying to get the girls to eat their dinner*
Dad: You know how you have to pay for food when you go to a restaurant? That's what we're doing here. If you don't eat your food you have to pay me.
Eden: Well, I will have to destroy you.

Dad walks in on the girls playing in Hope's room. Her big pink bunny is on the floor with animals all around it.
Dad: What's going on with him? (referring to the pink bunny)
Hope: They're eating him cause he's dead.
Dad:.....well that's not good.
Hope: The eagles were eating him, but he had worms.

Mom: Take off your shoes.
Eden: Whatever you say princess.

*Eden has woken up just hours after falling asleep one night and isn't feeling well. I've been sitting on her bed for a good twenty minutes trying to get her to go back to sleep.*
Eden: I wanna go out there.
Mom: No. You need to go back to sleep. It's still night night time.
Eden: But I can't sleep.
Mom: You need to keep trying.
Eden puts her face in her pillow, lifts it again and says: It's gonna be a long night.

Say What?

Eden: I'm speaking Spanish. 'Blah bloo blee'.

Hope: Can I help?
Mom: Why don't you just let me do it cause I'm just about out of patience.
Hope. Okay. But, mom? How many more patience do you have?

Mom: Would you like me to help you put on your jammies or do you want to do it yourself?
Eden as she jumps around her room naked: By. My. SELF!
Mom goes to help Hope brush her teeth.
Eden continues running/hopping throughout the house naked.
Mom: It seems like you need some help with your jammies.
Eden's naked tushy hops down the hallway and mom continues helping Hope.
Eden: HOP. HOP. HOP.
Mom sits on Eden's bed as Eden twirls and hops around the room.
Mom: Would you like some help?
Eden: Yes. Cause I am OUT of control!

Hope: How do you scare a lobster?

Eden: Knock, Knock.
Hope: Who's there?
Eden: It's me, broccoli.

Say What?

Hope is spending some time with daddy at his work and says: I don't understand why you're here. It's boring here.

Same day - One of Ben's co-workers comes into his office and says to Hope: You make sure he's working hard okay?
After he leaves, Hope says to dad: Why does he care if you're working if he's not?

Our home teacher asks Eden: What were you for Halloween?
Eden: A witch.
Home teacher: Did you cast an evil spell on somebody?
Eden: No. I didn't have a wand.

Eden is playing with her McDonald's cash register toy.
Dad says: What is that? (referring to the cash register)
Eden says: Um....a chicken nugget thingy.

Eden: I liked that. I like smiling.
Mom: You're adorable.
Eden: That what I was gonna say.

Mom: Maybe you should try to go peepee.
Eden: Well if I go you have to pay.

Eden singing a song: Patta cake, patta cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake and don't pitch a fit! (It seems like she may have said this before, but I didn't want to go through all my posts to see.)

(2010)

Say What?

Hope sees a crown in the costume store: "Hey look! It's a King's hat! I bet Heavenly Father has one of these."

Noah: "It reminds me of China with all these falling leaves. Oh....I've never been to China."

Hope and Eden refer to Ben's "hair" as "tiny hairs" because he shaves his head. One night he put Eden's tiara on his head and Hope said, "You look like a princess with tiny hairs."

Eden looking at a picture of a friend she hasn't seen in a while: "Is she my assistant?"

Eden says to Hope after Hope tries to take something from her: "It's MY coronation....and I'm running unopposed." *That is a line from My Little Pony Equestria Girls.

Eden jabbers to dad something about garbage.
Dad says: "What?"
Eden jabbers garbage again.
Dad: "What?"
Eden says: "You heard me."

Mom to Eden: "Can we put your ponies on the floor while we eat dinner?"
Eden: "They will be sad."
Mom: "They don't care."
Eden: "Nobody cares about my ponies."

Hope's First Primary Talk

Unfortunately, I am blogging about this several months after the fact, so I can't recall many details, but here are the big parts.

Hope got to give her first primary talk! Apparently she offered to do it instead of being asked, which I think is very cool. She loves to do stuff like that and doesn't get too scared or embarrassed. Hopefully that courage will continue throughout her life. At first, I tried to get her to memorize her talk. After the first line she wasn't having it and I didn't want to turn it into something she was dreading, so I resolved to just whisper the whole thing in her ear. She did awesome. I am so proud of my sunshine Hope and her little testimony that seems to grow stronger and more beautiful every day. I am so grateful that my children know who they are, why they are here and that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them.

This is a copy of her talk.

"There are many ways that Heavenly Father can talk to you through the Holy Ghost. He can speak to you through the scriptures. One very important way that Heavenly Father talks to His children is through His living prophets. When the prophet speaks, he is telling us things that Heavenly Father wants us to know.

Our prophet today is Thomas S. Monson. Heavenly Father uses the prophet as his mouthpiece to deliver messages he wants us to hear. Each April and October the prophet and other general authorities speak to us in a special meeting called General Conference. They tell us things the Savior would if He were here. Their words are like scriptures and will teach us and help us choose the right. I am thankful I can listen to Heavenly Father's messages for me by listening to the prophet."

They Know

Saturday Ben threw his back out while doing yard work. The kids and I were all outside helping when Hope asked what was wrong with daddy. I looked over to see him on the ground unable to speak or move. I thought he had had a heart attack. We were all very scared. Ben is a strong man and to see him like that was disturbing and I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating for at least a second or two. The girls kept asking him questions and trying to get close to him, so I asked Noah to take them back to their rooms so I could try to help Ben.

After Ben was able to stand I went back to check on the kids. Noah had turned on his church music and moved Hope's little table into his room. They were all sitting around it making Ben get-well soon cards. Thinking about how cute and thoughtful my children are I went back to my room to listen in case Ben needed me while he was in the shower. Yes, even though he had just been in severe pain and barely able to move, he INSISTED on taking a shower the minute he could stand. I've learned over the last 48 hours that he is even more stubborn than I thought. Anyway, while I was waiting I overheard Eden tell her brother and sister that they should say a prayer. Then her tiny 3 year old voice prayed for her daddy.

 I smiled with pride and thought about how lucky they are to know where to look for peace and comfort. Noah had immediately played his church hymns for them to listen to and Eden needed no prompting to ask her Heavenly Father to help her earthly father.

Taking three kids to church by myself has not always been easy (although it is getting easier as Miss Chevious gets older), but I'm so glad that I stuck with it. So many - okay EVERY-  Sunday mornings  I dreaded wrestling with two of my three children in the congregation while trying to feel the spirit. I often wondered "why even go"? I knew they needed it though, and I am grateful for the strength I received to push through the dread and often time embarrassment of sacrament with Miss Chevious.

I am grateful that Ben and I have had family prayer every night for the last year and that we continue to do it. I am grateful that they have heard us ask Heavenly Father to bless family members who have been sick and have seen them get well and know that Heavenly Father heard their prayers. I am grateful that Hope and Noah have CDs of hymns that they listen to while falling asleep and that we sing primary songs every night before prayer. Once again, I have often wondered what good it is all doing. The singing and praying, trying unsuccessfully to get the younger children to be reverent during family prayer. "Why am I even doing this?" is something I've asked myself frequently.
Last Saturday I got my answer.

"American Day"

Hope was very excited about the 4th of July this year, only she called "American Day." For a few days before, any time we were driving she would always point out the flags and other decorations that people had in their yards and ask why we didn't have any. That is right. I do not have any 4th of July decorations. Her excitement for the holiday of which we had no plans and no decorations made me feel like one heck of a disappointment to my children. The night before the 4th Hope got so excited that as she lay in bed she told me all the things she had planned for the following day. She said she was going to make everyone a flag. True to her word, she woke up early and immediately wanted to draw.

She did make one for everyone. I guess all those afternoons "singing to the flag" in kindergarten paid off, cause that an awesome one. I am very impressed with her stars. I still can't draw a decent one.

Out of the blue, Ben decided that we should go up to the West Bountiful parade. I don't like parades. I don't think I ever have. Once in my early 20's I got pegged in the forehead by an overzealous candy thrower and that pretty much sealed the deal. I mean, that tootsie roll could've put my eye out! Anyway.
Hope insisted that she have an "American shirt" for the "American Day." So here she is looking festive in her American Day attire, and Eden in her pigtails that lasted only about an hour.

 Turns out that West Bountiful throws a decent parade with zero overzealous candy throwers. Actually, I do think there was one, but he missed me and narrowly missed Whitney who was standing behind me so I'm okay with that. :)

There were horses that had been painted like the flag and some that had stars painted on their rear (buttock?) that Hope said looked like a cutie mark, which is the little symbol on a My Little Pony. They got lots of taffy and a few of those dangerous tootsie rolls and then we went back to grandma Verla's house for lunch. We spent a few hours visiting with her and aunt Whitney and Hope gave me a preview of her teenage years with this...

 playing on aunt Whitney's phone.

That evening the girls finally got to do sparklers and Pop-Its. They were concerned about holding a stick that was on fire, but soon got the hang of it and we went through a few boxes of them.

 The people in our neighborhood put on some pretty amazing firework shows. There were fireworks on the streets in front of us and behind us. We couldn't decide which way to turn our heads. Being surrounded by fireworks is pretty cool (and a little scary given that it had been so dry prior to the 4th). After watching outside and being eaten by bugs we moved into the back bedroom to watch for a while more. It was nice sitting in the quiet dark with my little ladies and their daddy watching fireworks that were so close.
What I thought would be a disappointing American Day actually turned out quite wonderful. The only time I saw disappointment in my girls' faces was when they were told they had to go to bed. If Noah would've been here I dare say it would have been perfect a American Day.

"The Forest"

The kids and I have a new favorite place. The kids call it "the forest" or "the duck pond". It has both...AND a playground. It's like heaven on earth, kid-size.

This was our trip there last week.

This was right before Hope accidentally stepped in the stream.

This is immediately after.

She was disturbed at first, but Noah and I kept laughing and she eventually got over it. Thank goodness cause she could have thrown one heck of a fit.

Further up the Provo River Trail we found another park. Eden decided she was too tired to go on so Noah carried her for a minute. What a studly little man.

This week we went again, and Eden was being especially funny. She wanted to bring her back pack so that she and Noah could play "ghosts" (Luigi's Mansion) a game they've been playing around the house all week. I knew she had some toys in there, but I didn't really bother to check exactly what she had. She surprised me when I turned to see her grab juice from her back pack, chug it and put it back in, just like a professional backpacker. She came prepared, which is more than I can say for the rest of us.

Eden was very happy to be on this adventure. She kept grabbing leaves while jabbering about making a cake. Then she would pick up sticks and wave them around while singing her made-up songs. She kept up with big brother and sister but took one wrong turn and fell in some really thick mud by the stream. As it was happening, scenes of the Swamp of Sadness in The Never-Ending Story flashed through my head. Remember when Atreyu makes really dramatic facial expressions while he is trudging through the swamp?

Unfortunately, my attempt to document the moment didn't do it justice. I had thought about snapping a picture before picking her up out of the muck, but then a 22 year old version of her little voice interrupted that thought with a "MOM, how could you?" She was not happy about the mud and whined about having to go home and take a bath. After scraping most of the mud off she was good to go and eventually found a little spot to clean off her shoes in the water. But then of course she didn't want to wear them because she said, "there water in nem."

So from then on she went barefoot. Like this.

She didn't get to follow Hope and Noah in the wooded areas, she had to stay on the grass, but she didn't seem to mind.

 Her hair is getting longer and she is growing up so fast.

I took what I thought were some really good shots. I was so excited thinking about how cute they were going to turn out and was even considering framing a few. Then I got home and realized that most of the ones I was so excited about turned out incredibly blurry.

 

I think they were playing the hobbit. See below where Noah is thoughtfully touching his chin.

Hope said several times that she was sure she could climb this tree. She didn't get very far, but seemed satisfied with the distance she did make.



 

After exploring we unloaded Eden and Hope's bikes from the van and rode up the Provo River Trail for a little bit. 

Noah thought Eden was quite funny on her little tricycle cause her little legs would pedal so fast and she would hunker down like she was really flying. 

 

She must've been working hard cause she got thirsty and had to pull over to get into her well-packed bag.

 

I got such a kick out of watching her with that bag. Getting out her drink and then, zipping up her bag, just as though she had been hiking and adventuring for years. Finally she decided to drink and drive. She almost caused several accidents on the trail....seriously. You can't tell by the photo, but she is moving while she is chugging that apple juice. Dangerous stuff.

She also had a mini magnifying glass in her backpack that she pulled out and kept stopping to check out bugs on the pavement. Then she held it up to her eye like a monocle and looked all around her while she was driving....another hazard. Several more accidents avoided. Her first lessons in distracted driving. 

 

We decided to make this place a weekly outing. Next time I think we'll follow Eden's lead and bring some water bottles for everyone - and some water shoes for the Swamp of Sadness.

Say What?

Hope making up a song: I am a little child for Jesus. Oh, I love Jesus. I love Jesus. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Why does He have a beard? Who knows, go ask your daddy.

Hope making up another song: Jesus is the nicest guy ever. Jesus is the nicest guy ever. 'Make some music', he yelled!

Eden is upset with me for some reason I can't remember and Hope says: She's thinks your mean. I am just warning you. Are you grateful I warned you?

Zoe just came home from getting spayed and is not feeling well.
Hope says: C'mon Zoe. Aren't you happy? *sings* If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

Say What?

Hope: Does Heavenly Father get tired?
Me: No.
Hope: Does His son?
Me: Jesus? No.
Hope: Does He like to stay up like His dad?

*Another nighty night talk with Hope*
Hope: How does the Holy Ghost make you feel?
Mom: Sometimes he gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, sometimes he warns you about danger, sometimes he puts thoughts into your head.
Hope: I'm getting sweaty.
Mom: Take the blanket off.
Hope: No. I think it's the Holy Ghost. Why does the Holy Ghost make you feel warm?

Hope: Eden, you are crazy.
Mom: That's not a very nice thing to say.
Hope: I know.

Eden: Can I have a treat?
Mom: Too many treats will make you sick.
Eden: I wanna TREAT!!!
Noah: Eden, did you hear about the kid who ate too much candy? He fell off his porch.

*I have been trying to get Noah to expand his group of friends, but Noah doesn't seem to want to*
Mom: Do you have anything in common with "so-and-so"? (Name omitted to protect the innocent.)
Noah: The only thing we have in common is maps...and we're both human.

Mom: Eden, keep your hands to yourself.
Hope: Keep your face to yourself too.

By Hope.

Eden with a snare drum, Hope singing into a microphone and Noah playing the drums...with his foot???? Love her. 

Say What?

Eden: Look, I'm a bunny! Ribbit, Ribbit
Dad: Rabbits don't say 'Ribbit'.
Eden: Rabbit, Rabbit.

Hope: Mmmm. My hands smell good. I want to eat them.

Hope: I am sadder than sad.

Hope looks in the mirror and says: Hello handsome girl.

Dad to Eden: I'm gonna hang you up by your toes.
Eden: Are you really?
Dad: Don't you believe me?
Eden: No.

Hope: I want to go look at the pregnant people.

Eden to Hope: You are my best friend ever.

Noah helping Eden ride his skate board.

Say What?

Eden: Mom, look! My bum is freaking out.

Hope: Can we get another dog?
Mom: I don't think so.
Hope to mommy: I wish a puppy could come out of your tummy.

Eden: I'm HUNGRY!
Dad: What do you want?
Eden: Chi...Ch....I can't seem to remember.

Mom: Are you feeling better today?
Hope: Yes. But my head hurts. I think it's cause my hair is so long.

Dad is leaving for work one morning and says: Bye. I love you.
Eden: I love you! Come again soon!
Dad: Okay, I will.
Eden: Be careful of the ice!

Dad: Why don't you go poop in the potty?
Eden: It just comes out.
Mom: Well when you feel it start to come out you need to say, 'Oh, I need to go potty.' and then hold it till you get on the potty and then you can let it come out.
Eden: THAT'S A GREAT IDEA MOM!!!

Say What?

Eden has poked and squashed a piece of zucchini to smitherines, puts it back on her plate, picks up a piece of squash and says: Your turn.

When dad gets out of the car to go into the gas station Hope says: Please don't leave your family here all alone.

Noah: What do you call a job that makes nuts?
Hope: What?
Noah: A nut job.

Hope to her friend Mason: Look at this new dinosaur toy. It's from Rob. He's in my class. He looks pretty sometimes, just like you.

Hope: Where did all this stuff come from?
Dad: I don't know.
Dad starts dancing and shaking his shoulders from side to side.
Hope: Is that a clue?

 *Seahorse*

 *The First Vision* She came home with this one Sunday.

*Licked by a Horse*

Las Vegas With the Maxwells

This past weekend Ben's brother, Ian, celebrated his 21st birthday in Las Vegas and Jeff was generous enough to make sure we were there to celebrate with them. The girls have never met their aunts Amanda and Emily. They only met uncle Ian and Grandma Patty once, and they always love to see grandpa Jeff, so they were very excited.

We drove, which we were a little nervous about with Hope and Eden, but they did surprisingly well. There were no complaints from Hope and Eden only had one real outburst on the way there and one on the way back. We were thinking they might sleep for at least a couple of hours, but no one slept on the way there (besides mom cause I was sick and yes, okay, driving makes me sleepy) and Hope and Eden took only a short nap on the way back. Noah had some new books to read so he was fine...until when we arrived home and he learned that he had to get back in the car and drive another hour and half to Grantsville. He was pretty upset about that.

It was dark when we got there so Las Vegas was quite a sight as we drove up to it. The kids were amazed at all the lights and the cool buildings. Then we got to the strip and pulled up right behind a driving billboard with three fully clothes women who wanted nothing to do with anyone being advertised. Imagine the extreme opposite of what I described and then imagine my horror of having my 11 year old son in the back seat. The spiritual assault of the city was pretty smothering until I was talking with Ben about it that night and realized that I just can't let all the bad stuff get in the way of all the good and that it is better for our children to be exposed to this kind of thing with us (so we can talk with them about it), than being exposed on their own or with their friends. Amazingly, the only thing Hope had a comment about was a guy dressed up like a Transformer on the side of the street to which she said, "They have weird people here." Of all the drunken half-naked people surrounding us, she chose that to focus on. Thank goodness! Noah had more of a problem ignoring the "sin" part of the city, but hopefully when he looks back on it, he will mostly remember family and a lot of cool buildings.

The kids thought our hotel room was awesome cause it had hide-a-way beds and two rooms. They ran around till dad decided to be a party pooper and told them to stop. 

The next day, Eden found one of her favorite things about Vegas - the complimentary soap. She carried around till she unwrapped it and I took it away, then she was off to find another...which she did...several times.

When the girls met Amanda and Emily they both became really quiet and just stared with smiles on their faces. I could tell they thought their aunts were beautiful. Right away Hope seemed to want to make up for lost time and be around them as much as possible. She held Amanda's hand for quite a while, walking around the hotels and asking her LOTS of questions.

Aunt Emily and Amanda were both great sports about it, and it was nice to see the girls getting to know more of their family. Hope was very impressed with Grandma and Grandpa's hotel. It had beautiful gardens with ponds full of huge Koi and some flamingos!!! All day and the next morning Hope kept saying she wanted to go back to Grandpa's hotel.

*Grandma Patty, Grandpa Jeff, Noah, a flamingo, Hope, Eden and Daddy*

I know what you're thinking, "Wow, she actually posted a pic with her in it...and her eyes are closed." Well, if I were going to be picky I wouldn't have posted it cause of my ginormous rear, not the closed-eyes...but I need to just get over it. Besides those points this is a very cute picture of my beautiful little family. Eden was trying out some funky new camera faces that day, as you can see.

There was also a big bird cage inside with parakeets in it that the kids thought were cute. One of them tilted it's head all the way over to one side and then back again several times looking at Hope. She thought this was adorable. Okay, me...I did, it was freaking precious and when I think about I still want to say, "awww."

In another hotel there was a big fish tank where we stopped to take some pictures.

Eden and Grandma Patty had a conversation about the statue in the water. During this trip we have learned that Eden does not care for statues. The fact that this one was sunken in a fish tank may or may not have helped. We'll see.

I posted this second shot because I LOVE Noah's pose.

In the next hotel we saw gondola's in a big indoor river. Eden loved the boats and kept saying she couldn't reach it.

There's little sunshine with her hair in her face. On the days she doesn't want to wear a barrette, her bangs fall in her face and are long enough now that she has started to chew on them.

Then we saw a beautiful Chinese garden.

It was wonderful to spend time with the Maxwells and get to know them better. We definitely need to do it more. Especially since the girls are saying how much they miss everyone already. Thanks to Grandpa Jeff for making sure we got out there and to Uncle Ian for letting us celebrate his birthday with him. We love you guys!