Little Man

Just some fun things about Jalen Andrew right now:

He has impeccable manners. He is ALWAYS saying

"Thank You" and "Please" without any prompt from

us. I thought that I had pretty good manners too, but

I guess not to his liking, because the other day in the

playroom he handed me a little piece of garbage that

he found on the floor. I disposed of it, and he cocked

his head and asked, "Dank you?" "Thank you," I

repeated back, to which he very clearly said, "You're

welcome."

He is talking so much right now. He says a lot of things

in full sentences. He's still quiet around others, but he

can really talk our ears off at home. He repeats

everything we say too, in an effort to gain new vocabulary.

Yesterday as James was reading a book to me, Jalen

Andrew went and got The Busy Spider by Eric Carle,

and as he would turn to a new page, he would make the

sound of the animal on the page, and then look at me

expectantly to see if I had heard him "read" the book.

His two favorite words right now are "MommeEE," and

"No-oh-oh."

Most kids call out "Help!" when they need something, or

they're stuck. Jalen Andrew calls "Help!" very urgently

when he sees me putting away laundry. He actually gets

very frantic about it, and I have to stop what I'm doing,

until he gets his little white basket in his hands to help.

I put the kids clothes' in the basket, tell him who they

belong to, and he dutifully dumps the clothes on the

appropriate bed. What a helper!

He has a great little shoulder shrug that he does when

he's getting into something that he shouldn't be or when

we ask him to do something. It is the funniest thing to

watch! As an example, if we ask him to go get a ball,

he'll shrug his shoulder all the way across the yard, as

he walks to retrieve the ball.

He loves his blankie - we've known that for a long time,

but have recently realized that he desires for us to

love his blankie just as much as he does. He uses it as a

way to get what he wants. For instance, when he used

to request a drink, he would ask for the drink, and then

would place his blanket on my shoulder for him to snuggle

on as we walked to the kitchen. Now he just comes up to

me, and without saying anything, hands me his blanket,

when I put it on my shoulder, he then takes my hand to

lead me to the kitchen. If I should set the blanket down instead

of putting it on my shoulder, he lets me know that that

kind of behavior is unacceptable. In addition to his blanket,

he has recently become quite attached to his Build a Bear

Monkey. Yesterday he brought it to me during breakfast,

and wanted me to give it a drink of milk. And then later,

when we on our way to the mini-van to go do some errands,

he ran back into the house to retrieve his monkey. Funny

that he likes it so much, since a couple of weeks ago,

Rebekah scared him with the monkey, and whenever he

would see it, he would bury his head on my shoulder, and

whine, "Monkey. Monkey," like it was going to get him or

something.

(feeding Cheerios to his babies - notice the raised shoulder)

And the other thing that he does, that just cracks us up,

is that he runs laps around the downstairs. He just runs

and runs and runs for no apparent reason ; it's not as if

he's being chased by the other kids. He's just running for

the "fun of it" and enjoying every minute of it. He actually

runs so many laps that he starts panting - he doesn't

stop though, but continues on running a few more laps,

giggling at himself and panting.

He's a Bear

Last Thursday, at Pack Meeting, Joseph earned his Bear badge,

a gold arrow, 2 silver arrows, and all 4 of his beads.

He is one decorated kid,

but even better than that

is the fact that he's enjoying learning new skills.

All Tied Up

The 3 oldest kids begged me to teach them how to tie their shoes before they went to kindergarten, maybe even when they were still 4. We worked and worked at it, and each of them eventually got it. James never asked for help, or showed any desire to learn, and so I didn't offer. I wasn't sure how I was going to have the patience to teach him anyway.

Then last week, I heard Erik say to James, "Here, let me show you how to tie your shoe, so that you can do it yourself." Oh boy, I thought. Here we go. Erik will show him, and then I'll spend the next few weeks listening to James yell about how he can't get it right, and he'll fight me when I try to help. To my amazement, however, James came to find me a few minutes later, to show me the new skill he had learned.

He ties his shoelaces all the time now, without any help at all.

Learned it and mastered it, all in about 5 minutes.

Good job James! (and Erik.)

Let the Games Begin

Christine is enjoying Colorguard. It's keeping

her busy, and tired, but she's having a good time too.

Cierra, Christine & Kaylee model their costumes

for their Sound of Music show.

Rebekah was able to play with the high school band,

the other night at future freshman night.

She did a great job, and gained a little insight

into how much work it is.

When he's tired . . . he's tired!

James, fell asleep on the bleachers,

and stayed asleep for about an hour.

The games can be long, so Jalen Andrew keeps himself

amused by spraying himself (and everyone around him)

with water. It helps to keep everyone hydrated and cool.

Thanks Jalen Andrew.

And thanks to all the grandparents for their support.

I hope we didn't exhaust you too much.

We had stake temple day on the 17th of September.

Jalen Andrew and I drove to Mesa with Erik,

and while he attended a session,

we did some errands at Seagull Book and the Distribution Center.

After that, he and I spent time at the Visitor's Center,

and strolled around together on the Temple grounds.

We found a shady little spot, where I could sit and read,

and Jalen Andrew could toss a ball around.

We had such a good time together.

At the Visitor's Center,

we visited the Christus.

Earlier, at a smaller statue of Christ,

I had shown Jalen Andrew the wounds in

Christ's hands and feet.

When we saw the Christus,

Jalen Andrew pointed to the wounds in Christ's feet.

I acknowledged the wounds,

and then Jalen Andrew lifted up the leg of his shorts,

and showed me the scab he had on his knee.

Yes, sweetie, that's right -

He has those wounds because He knew

that you would get hurt sometimes too.

I'm glad that you understand!

You Got a Catch a Few Zzzz's When You Can

Who can sleep with all those monkeys in the bed?

Shhhhh.

Jalen Andrew insisted on wearing his boots and his brother's

sunglasses before we could pick up his sister from school.

The Bishop sleeps where and when he can.

The baby bouncer was out the other day,

when I was re-organizing the closet.

Jalen Andrew climbed in,

and

well . . .

made himself comfortable.

And then,

there are other times,

when sleeping is optional.

(They were all lined up,waiting for me to finish getting ready for my day.)

Where's Waldo?

For mutual last week, the girls played

Where's Waldo?.

They went to the mall,

and as teams went searching for some of their leaders

who were dressed up.

The boys and I thought it sounded fun,

so we went too,

to play Where's Bishop-o.

We played our own rendition:

We got 10 points if we found one of the leaders,

20 points if we found Christine or Rebekah

(they didn't know we were going)

and 50 points if we found Dad.

He was the last one we found.

Then, of course, we had to try on the cool costume that our friend Shawn Bryant made.

I guess they were inspired by their Dad's attire the other night for mutual,

for a few days later,

the Halloween costumes were dragged out of their box,

and the boys had a bit of imaginative play.

Mr. Scary Escaped Convict Skeleton Man

Our Knight in Shining Superman Cape?

or is that G.I. Knight Man?

And you should have seen the epic battles

being played out

when Spiderman

crosses

Skeleton Guy.

G.I. Super Knight?

He's a lover not a fighter.

And then don't forget . . .

you don't need a fancy costume from a store

to be someone -

just pick any empty box of pasta

out of the recycle bin,

and you too,

can be Spaghetti Man,

with a turbo arm,

perfect for whacking everyone.

(Thanks, Jalen Andrew. Ya, that hurts.)

I Remember

I remember clearly.

Turning on the news that morning,

having just kissed Erik good-bye,

and hugging and kissing Christine & Rebekah

as they headed off for school,

I remember holding Selena lightly in my arms,

as she was still so fragile a thing,

and Joseph stood next to me holding onto my leg.

I remember the numbness, the disbelief, the absolute shock

as I watched the twin towers crumble

over and over again,

as the newscasters repeated again and again the devestating news.

I remember that the t.v. was on all day

that day and for days afterwards

as I watched and prayed for the rescuers

to find people to rescue.

I remember,

with mixed emotions,

that day -

for September 11th 2001 -

ended the life of many a person,

but it was at that moment

and in the following weeks

that my life began to come back,

began to change.

I don't think it was because of 9-11

but it was in the following weeks,

as I grappled with my emotions,

that I started to make some changes.

Little, to some, but big changes to me.

I put our house up for sale,

I quit doing foster care

(although it is a good thing, it was a change that I needed to make),

we moved,

and in the process of it all,

I was able to recognize depression for what it was.

I hadn't realized that I suffered from depression -

how could I know -

when it was something that I had felt all my life?

And yet, there it was,

looming and consuming me when I should have been happy.

I had always been content in my depression,

consigned to always feeling low

and wishing that life would be over.

9-11 shocked me into action -

I wanted to feel joy,

I wanted to feel love deeply,

but I couldn't.

Now with help,

I can.

I remember.

I remember that life is fragile,

I remember that life is hard,

I remember that people are stronger than they think,

I remember to kiss and hug my family each day,

I remember to say I love you,

I remember that we need eachother,

I remember the power of prayer, and the need for it,

I remember that in tragedy, there are always people to help,

I remember that life goes on,

I remember that some dreams die, while other dreams live on,

I remember that Heavenly Father knows each of us,

personally,

at every stage and moment of our life,

I remember that He loves us.

I remember.

I remember.

Keeping Busy

Here's the low down on everyone:

Christine is enjoying high school. Way too social for her Dad's liking, though, and often has some "get together" each weekend, on top of the Saturday Night Dances. She has plenty of homework, but is managing to keep up with it, color guard, and seminary just fine. We were worried that early morning seminary might be difficult for her, but she is doing really well getting up and getting ready on time. She performed with color guard for the first time last weekend at a football game against Chandler High School. We didn't go since the boys (including Erik) were working on getting over their colds, and it was supposed to rain. We get to see her in action this Friday though.

Rebekah is learning to endure sore, aching muscles, and learning that being on the volleyball team isn't all glamor and recognition. It also hurts a bit. Although her muscles are complaining, she is enjoying working with the team and improving her skills. As manager of the team she was thrilled to find out that they ordered her a volleyball jersey and school spirited socks to match the team. She's doing well in her classes, and is doing a fair bit of babysitting in her spare time (although she always welcomes more).

Joseph is remembering to wear his glasses each day - that's a good thing. He is doing well in school, and seems to be liking it. He has been working hard on his cub scouting, and has almost earned his Bear. He wanted to play a sport this fall, but I just couldn't quite make it work with both girls having the schedules that they have. Maybe in the winter, buddy? :) We have started piano lessons again, and he is doing very well at that.

James has been working hard to earn stickers so that he can go to Disneyland when we go to watch the band and color guard march down Main St. He's doing great at staying dry ; it's the staying clean part that still stymies him a bit. Dry nights for about 3 weeks now too. I haven't heard any complaints from the teacher, so I'm assuming his behavior is okay in class. First grade brings with it, homework, spelling and phonogram tests, and daily reading. Ummm, to say the least, James isn't too thrilled. He fights the concept that he has homework everyday. But then again, there are lots of things that he fights and resists doing. The first weeks of school, he would come home, and would literally start climbing and bouncing off the walls. He was climbing the door frames, climbing up onto high surfaces to jump off of, swinging on the pantry door, grabbing onto people and generally annoying them, and jumping off the couches. I know. I know! Boys do those sorts of things, but this was non-stop, and completely out of control. When we started him on Concerta again, those behaviors went away, immediately, and he started being dry at home (not clean-had 2 accidents-but dry!).

(He looks so mellow when he's sleeping, doesn't he? He fell asleep in the middle of his hair cut.)

Jalen Andrew's language is exploding. He talks all the time, sometimes it's long gibberish monologues, which are seriously hilarious, but then other times it is in short, complete sentences (Ex: "I am done."). He is really talking a lot, and it's not always in English either. He is addicted to Baby Einstein (he likes to watch it when he's tired), and can count and say different phrases in German and French and whatever other languages they are speaking. So maybe we don't know what he's saying, but he sure thinks that he knows. With the kids gone at school all day, he has become my really good helper. He loves to wash windows, and fold laundry. When he's not doing housework, he finds other things to keep him occupied, such as . . .

strategically placing all of Christine's pens and pencils in her fan (while she's sleeping)

hitting (or throwing) everything in sight. Rulers, toothbrushes, and pencils make really great baseball bats, and anything in the hand supposedly makes a great ball.

He also loves to play in the sink with the running water, and if the house ever gets quiet, I know exactly where to look.

(Don't let the innocent look fool you)

Erik is keeping busy with all of his Bishop stuff, but recently "sqoze" in enough time to put in our turf. The front yard is getting there. We still have the block retaining wall to put up, and then we can concentrate our artificially green thumbs elsewhere. It's looking really good though.

After school had been in session for a few days, Christine asked me, "Don't you miss us when we're at school? Some of the other moms are sad because summer is over, but you seem happy." Truth is, I do miss my kids when they're at school. I think about them all day, I stop and look at their pictures, I wonder how they're doing, and who they're playing with, and I can't wait to hug them when they get home. It's as they say, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." I enjoy having the kids around, but I also enjoy the quiet time that Jalen Andrew and I have together during the day (with no one teasing him). And I love being able to get things done.

I've gotten really organized lately, and have figured out a laundry schedule that works for me, with the kids putting in a load of laundry before leaving for school. They each have their own day, their own color of laundry, and when they walk out the door for school, the wash is ready for me to hang up. It dries all day in the garage, and then the next morning I fold it in between the time Christine leaves for seminary and the time that everyone else wakes up. The kids then put their own piles of laundry away, and the whole process starts over again. I'm loving it because it works!

All the daily chores are scheduled throughout the week, and in addition to getting them done, I have also done the following:

organized the pantry,

organized all of the kitchen cupboards,

organized under 2 different bathroom sinks,

re-organized the bookshelves,

organized the garage,

defrosted the freezer,

and cooked up a ton of meat to freeze,

got the budget up to date

started on Jalen Andrew's scrapbook again,

organized the boys' closet and drawers,

organized the game closet

and organized my sewing closet.

Ahhh . . . it feels good.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The very hungry toddler ate a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of toast for breakfast after eating an entire orange, and drinking several cups of milk.

For lunch he ate a bowl of black beans mixed with hamburger,

a pear - all the way to the core,

a slice of cantaloupe,

six slices of cucumber,

two carrot sticks,

a large handful of grapes,

and a spoonful of diced tomatoes.

Jalen Andrew cracks me up! He refuses to eat a peanut butter sandwich, or any kind of sandwich, but just let him see some fruits or vegetables, and dog-gone-it, the boy is begging for food like crazy. I was slicing up fruits and veggies to stock the refrigerator today, and he had to sample everything. The cantaloupe he snuck away from me while I was scooping out the seeds of the other section. The word "pear" he learned today. He asked me for another pear this afternoon; pointing to it, he said "Apple?" then shook his head as if to clear his mind, and tried again, "Pear?" I thought one orange was enough in a day, but he didn't. He kept beckoning to me, by saying "C'mere," and holding out his hand, then he would lead me to the refrigerator, and after it was open, he would point to the oranges in the crisping drawer.

Jalen Andrew has started having a hissy fit whenever we try to put his bib on him. Generally, I don't worry about it too much, but sometimes, like when he's eating oatmeal, he definitely needs it. Tonight when he started his fussing, I went over and put on my apron, then Joseph and James both requested aprons. I sat next to Jalen Andrew and explained that I was wearing my bib too, just like Joseph & James. He then requested to wear his bib, and for the remainder of dinner, he kept reaching over and patting my chest, saying, "Bib, bib." As the Staples Button would attest - "That was Easy."