Recent Shorts

Here are some (mostly) one-liners from Skylar (Eli's cuteness is still largely physical - stuff he does, not so much stuff he says.):

"Why do we always slow down right here, anyway?" (at a stop sign on the way to SOT)

"Mama, you must be just a liiiiitle bit not as good a mom as Mary." (the mother of God)

"All you care about is this house!" (very dramatic, said while I was yelling at her to stop stepping in my dirt piles)

"That's what tape is for. It tapes the world." (Scotch tape)

"Sometimes, celebrating a marriage is hard, but it's worth it. If you and Daddy hadn't gotten married, you wouldn't have us." (said after Jordan and I commented on what great kids we have)

Hiking

I don't know why we haven't done much hiking here, but we haven't. This weekend, though, we've done two hikes. Our kids are incredible!

Yesterday, we went to the Natural Bridge. I didn't take any pictures, so here's one that someone else has taken:



There wasn't much walking, but we decided to go off the bridge and climb on the rocks down below & then back up the rocks! The kids did great. At one point, I was helping Skylar from behind, and her skirt (it was an impromptu thing to go hiking) fell off. She had forgotten to put on underwear, and so her moonie was catching the breeze. I haven't laughed so hard in years! I only feel mildly bad that it was at my daughter's uncomfortable situation. She handled it very gracefully, too. She just ignored my laughter and hitched up her skirt once she was up top.

Today, we went to Bridal Veil Falls, which is a short hike, maybe .8 each way. Elijah, who's not even 3 yet, jumped and ran all the way to the falls. We decided to retrace our steps rather than do the loop, so on the way out he slept in the backpack carrier. Skylar did the whole thing plus a little as we were looking for trail blazes. They are white. White. Do you know how many trees have white squares of something on them? It must be some kind of moss or fungus or ???? It looks A LOT like the trail blazes. We had a great time anyway, and I think Jordan and I are both stubborn enough to want to go back (maybe without the kids) to find the right way. Here's a picture I took of the falls.



PS - I wrote this on Sunday. I've had trouble with uploading the photo, so I'm only posting it now.

Big boys

I'm trying to set the stage for potty training Eli, sort of prep him a bit. As I was getting him out of the carseat tonight, I said, "Oh, my little boy," and gave him a kiss.

He said, "I not a little boy. I big boy."

"Well, no. You're a little boy because you wear diapers. Big boys wear underwear."

To which he said, "No. Big boys wear boots." He was, of course, wearing boots.

Inertia

When we got home this afternoon, Skylar asked for a movie. I said no. I suggested reading a book, going for a walk, playing outside, and a few other things.

She said, "I'm just so tired of all that moving stuff."

Be assured, she meant moving herself, not the kind of moving that involves U-Haul.

I'm going to beat you silly, okay?

Today, the four of us were in the car, driving to the seminary. The kids were arguing.

Elijah, angrily: "Stop it!"
Skylar, loudly: "Hssss!"
Elijah, angrily: "I say stop it, Sky-ar!"
Skylar, loudly: "Hsss!"

Mama: "Skylar, I hear him saying 'stop it.' You need to respond with your words or stop doing what you're doing."

Skylar, calmly, "I don't want you to say stop it."
Elijah, whining, "Stop it!"
Skylar: "Hssss!"

I roll my eyes and take a breath. Before I can speak,though:

Skylar: "I'm going to hiss at you every time you say 'stop it,' okay?"

Pause.

Elijah: "Otay."

Silence.

Skylar: "Say 'stop it.'"
Elijah, hesitantly: "Stop it."
Skylar: "Hssss!"

Eli cracked up, and they played that game (or something similar) the whole ride.

Was that the best you could do??

Here's an oldie but goodie to start us off:

I think Skylar was about 3 1/2 or 4. I was driving, and I was lost. Skylar kept kicking Elijah in his carseat. I explained about personal space. I calmly asked her to stop. I don't remember what else I said, but I exhausted my arsenal of parenting tricks. Then, I swatted her leg (& felt crummy about it).

Skylar immediately throws back her head and starts wailing, "Mama! You can't treat me like that! Jesus says to treat other people the way you want to be treated! I mean, how would you like it if I hit your leg?"

"Skylar, you were kicking Elijah."

"I know I was, but parents have to do what's right even if their chillen (she was so little, she couldn't pronounce it!) do what's wrong, otherwise, how will they learn what's right? I mean, really, Mama, was that the only way you could have handled that situation?"

If you're reading this, and I told you the story right after it happened, you can correct any discrepancies. I'm pretty close, though.