Testimony - Superhero Julia

Once a month at church the main Sacrament meeting is open for individuals from the congregation to go to the pulpit and share their testimonies instead of having planned talks. I was planning on going up and sharing my testimony as well as sharing how proud I was of Julia for deciding to be baptized. However, as I was about to get up, Rebecca nudged me and pointed to Julia (who had been sitting by Grandma Little) who was walking to the stand to share her own testimony. She shared her beliefs about the church and the feelings she had when she was baptized. I was very impressed.

Julia is my superhero today for being brave enough to share her testimony with others.

Uno - Superhero Christian

Our kids have sometimes had trouble playing board games. They all just want to win so bad that someone almost always ends up crying when the game doesn't go his or her way. At first it was games like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders; however, with some practice they got pretty good at being good sports. Recently, we have started to teach Julia, Ethan, and Christian a few more grown up games like checkers and Uno. Unfortunately the tears have returned so we haven't played those games all that much. When Grandma and Grandpa Little were here this last week some of those games came back out. As a result, a few "time outs" ended up being issued. Since then, Rebecca and I have been trying to play more of these games with them to help them learn to be okay with losing with them as well.

Today, Rebecca was playing Uno with Christian and Ethan while I was playing checkers with Julia. A few times I heard Ethan start to complain, but overall everyone was doing much better than previous times. When Julia and I finished up, I started watching their game. I noticed that Christian had a bunch of draw twos and other really good cards. After a few turns, Christian had to play a draw two on Ethan, but instead he reached for a new card from the pile. Julia called him out on it, but he refused to play the card on Ethan - he didn't want to make his brother sad.

Christian (4) is my superhero today for placing the feelings of Ethan above his own interest in winning the game.

Baptism - Superhero Julia

In our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints) when a child turns eight years old they can choose to be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and official become a member of the Church. More information on our beliefs about baptism can be found here or here.

Julia turned 8 in November and so she had the opportunity to be baptized today. She was a little nervous, but super excited. There were five other children her age from this area who were also getting baptized at the same time, so there were actually a lot of people there for the program. It was a wonderful evening. Our family sang a song, Grandma Little gave a short talk, there were a couple other talks and songs, and then the ordinances. I was very proud of the decision Julia had made to be baptized and become a member of the church.

Julia (8) is my superhero today for setting a good example for her younger brothers and sister.

Sharing Croissants - Superhero Elliott

Agnes is definitely a carbs girl.  She prefers bread over vegetables, but she also chooses it over fruit, meat, dairy, and sometimes even sweets, although bananas hold their own. Before we fully realized this fact, we would often put several types of food on her tray at a time. She would go for the bread first and then once that was gone, start throwing the rest of her food on the floor and cry until she got more bread. Now we give her as much as we can of the other food with the bread out of sight before showing her the other stuff. I am a carbs person too, so I think she gets it from me.

We had picked up some croissants at the store today and when we got home all of the kids got a half to tide them over until dinner. Agnes wasn't around so we decided she could probably just wait for her meal. A little later I found Elliott in the living room sharing his with Agnes. He would take a bite and then hand it over to her. She would try to scarf down as much as possible, hold it tight in her hand, and turn her body away from Elliott. Elliott would then say "my turn" or "give it back Agnes" and manage to pull it out of her hands. He would then take another bite and hand it back over. They followed the same pattern until the coveted treat was gone.

Elliott (2) is my superhero today for sharing with his little sister.

Concerned Girl - Superhero Agnes

When we go out and do our shopping trips as a family there are usually a couple stores that just Rebecca or I will run in to for a quick browse or to pick just an item or two. When I run in, I almost always come back to a car of laughing or singing or some other merriment. When Rebecca runs in, Agnes immediately starts crying and I spend the time trying to soothe her and am counting down the seconds until she comes back (at which point Agnes quickly settles back down).

Today as we were shopping I dropped Rebecca off to get her hair cut (it looks spectacular if you were wondering), while I took the rest of the kids to the store to start on the groceries. When she stepped out of the car Agnes started her usual cry. But then I put the car in gear and started driving and she took it to another level. She was so panicked at the idea of leaving mom that her usual protest was not adequate and she screamed like I have never heard her scream before. Luckily she wore herself out by the time we parked the car and she ended up doing really well on the rest of the trip.

Agnes (1) is my superhero today for loving Rebecca so much, but also for settling down in time for me to take her in the store.

It may not work, but I have tried to include a video of her crawling, a talent she has recently picked up.

TMNT - Superhero Ethan

As a family we always like to go out and do some Black Friday shopping. Although we are not true Black Friday shoppers hitting the stores at midnight or even sometime on Thanksgiving, we like to go around sometime on Friday morning to be out in the crowds and see if there are any good deals left. This year, Ethan had been saving up his money to specifically spend it on that day. Although it wasn't on sale, he did end up purchasing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Leonardo) that he had been wanting for some time.

When we got home he was excited to open it up and play with it. Prior to purchasing this Leonardo, Ethan had a stuffed animal Leonardo that he liked to play with. After seeing Christian enviously watch him play with his new turtle, he found his old one and gave it to him. He also took some of his new Leonardo's swords and other weapons and let Christian play with those as well.

Ethan (6) is my superhero today for sharing his toys with Christian.

Classroom Visit - Superhero Julia

I got to visit Julia's class today and do an hour long presentation on how brains work and ways to take care of them. It was a lot of fun for me and I think all of her classmates had a good time as well. When I was in the class I saw that all of the kids share a two person desk except for Julia and one other kid in the back - they each had their own desks that were side-by-side. Curious, after school I asked Julia about the desk situation and why hers and the other kid's desks were different. Julia's teacher has told me on a few occasions how well-behaved Julia is in class and how much she loves having her in there, so I wasn't at all worried that Julia had done something wrong. At first she said that she didn't want to say because someone's feelings might get hurt. I assured her that it would be okay sharing with me because I am her parent. She then explained that the other kid struggles at school and sometimes has a hard time sitting still and following directions so he needs his own desk away from others sometimes. I then asked her how she got assigned to sit next to him. She said she wasn't assigned, but she chose to because he is her friend. Ethan than jumped in and told about all the games that he likes to play with Julia and that kid at recess time.

Julia (8) is my superhero today for being a friend to someone who might have a harder time at school.

Friendly Gal - Superhero Agnes

Rebecca had a Thanksgiving get together with some friends in the area who have children the same age as ours. She reported to me that Agnes did a great job at the party - She didn't fuss at all when some of the other moms or even some of the other kids wanted to hold her, she played well with the other little kids that were also her age, and she had plenty of big smiles to share. One of the other moms had watched Agnes the other day while Rebecca was at the dentist and I was teaching a class. The other mom told Rebecca that Agnes had gotten into crawling position, and when her daughter (about 5 months older than Agnes) saw it, she went over to hop on and get a horsey ride. The mom made sure to report that she intervened prior to her daughter hopping on. When I heard the story I remember that I caught Chrisitan and Elliott gently sitting on Agnes earlier that day. She is definitely a tough girl and I don't think she would have minded if the other girl had done some rough and tumble play with her.

Agnes is my superhero today for playing well at the party.

Not Quite Superheros, But Still Something Worth Remembering

For the past month Rebecca has been preparing the choir for a special Thanksgiving musical number. Although Rebecca is very musically talented, she has never directed a choir before, and so she has been a little stressed wanting to make sure it all turned out right for church today. You might remember the previous post about study hall passes. Well today was the big performance. Julia and Ethan went up with the rest of the choir and did great.

Christian and Elliott told me they would be reverent in going up and it seemed like they did pretty good during all the practices, so I didn't think there would be any harm in letting them go up too. I was definitely wrong, and I knew that I had made a mistake when it was time for the choir members to take their seats. Although Christian and Elliott folded their arms as they were walking up to the stand, instead of sitting with the rest of the choir, Christian sat all on his own and Elliott went all the way back to the last row. As the song began Christian started off well, but Elliott stood up on the bench of the last row and started jumping back and forth from one end of the stand to the other. Rebecca had peeked over her shoulder and gave me a panicked look, but I thought it would make more of a scene if I was to run up there and get him. But then Christian saw all the fun that his brother was having and so he left his spot and joined him. Unfortunately, jumping on the benches turned into some tackles, and Christian hollering out directions to Elliott for how to play the game right. Then it turned into crawling under the benches and popping out at different places on the stand. Although I gave them some "you're in huge trouble stares" and motioned for them to come down at once every time they looked at me, I couldn't help but laugh throughout the musical number. As I looked around the chapel I did notice smiles on everyone's faces, but I felt bad for the distraction when the choir (and especially Rebecca) had worked so hard on the reverent musical number. 

After the musical number was over, Rebecca walked back to our seats and I could tell she was super embarrassed. She still did get up for the closing song and with a smile on her face, led the congregation in the final hymn. After the meeting, several people came up to Rebecca and offered kind words. One person even said that he saw more courage in her when she got up to lead the final musical number while smiling than he had seen on the battlefield with soldiers dodging bullets. I know Rebecca was really embarrassed, but I don't think she needed to be. I am sure everyone at church was thinking "what kind of a husband sends up two little kids to run around on the stand while his wife is trying to lead a musical number?" I am happy to report that although it was embarrassing while it was happening, Rebecca and I have had several laughs about the whole incident today.

Christian (4) and Elliott (2) are my superheros today for keeping us humble and giving us something to laugh about.

Peek-a-boo - Superhero Christian

I was playing with Agnes on my lap today and I thought we were having a lot of fun, but when Rebecca walked by Agnes immediately started sobbing. I was trying to calm her back down when Christian came up close to us and started making some noises. I was about to ask him to give us a little space so I could help Agnes calm down, when I realized that he was trying to calm her down too. He gave her some kisses and started doing some peek-a-boos. He then started acting really silly and knocking himself in the head and falling over. Agnes kept crying, but I thought it was really funny and cute. I am guessing he got that from the scene in Monster's Inc. where Sully and Mike are trying to cheer up Boo.

Christian (4) is my superhero today for trying to help Agnes be happy.

Birthday Party Fun - Superhero Ethan

Ethan was invited to a birthday party today for a girl in his class. About a week ago he picked out a present at the store, which included two necklaces that he thought she would really like (the last birthday party he went to was also for a girl and he picked out a zombie sword for her). The party was across town and I needed to run some errands, so we left a little early so we could do them on the way. Ethan was a great help with those errands, and although they made us a few minutes late, he was a good sport about it. As we were approaching the party place we were both watching the clock to see how late we would actually be. I told him all about what 'fashionably late' means and how it applies to things like going to a party, but not going to school, or church, or when Dad has an important meeting. We ended up rushing in the door to the party only six minutes after the time listed on the invitation. However, when we got in, the mom of the birthday girl apologized and said that she had put the wrong time on the invitation and we were actually 54 minutes early and the first ones there - so much for being fashionably late!

Before I could think of something to do for the next hour, Ethan immediately got to work setting up chairs and decorations. The girl's parents went all out for the party and rented a party hall, set up fancy table and wall decorations, had a catered meal, and lots of fun games and prizes. However, besides Ethan, only four other little girls showed up. Ethan was a good sport about it though. All the girls teamed up against him in playing tag and doing a snowball fight with fake snowballs - we have had a super warm winter so far. The party had a Frozen theme and for one of the activities they did karaoke to all of the Frozen songs. Although all of the little girls were belting out "Let it go," "Do you want to build a snowman," and "For the first time in forever," Ethan didn't know any of the words. However, he was happy just dancing along and he even won the dance contest.

Ethan (6) is my superhero today for being a great party guest.

Sharing Pizza - Superheros Julia and Ethan

Our kids' school has a rewards program for reading books on a monthly basis. At the most recent assembly, Julia and Ethan each got two Pizza hut coupons for free personal pan pizzas. Rebecca was away at the temple this morning and the sun was shining, so we decided to walk to Pizza Hut to use the coupons. At first, Julia and Ethan came up with the great idea that they would each give a coupon to Elliott and Christian, so everyone could have a whole pizza. Knowing that that plan would probably end with leftovers that I would be tempted to eat, I suggested that we just use two coupons and they could each have a half. Julia and Ethan were happy with that and so off we went. The pizza place is only about a mile away. We have a jogging stroller that can fit three and so I thought the walk would be no problem. However, after getting all bundled up and outside, I discovered that I left the jogging stroller in the car. That meant that only Agnes would get to ride in our backup umbrella stroller, and Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott would all have to walk. Without my asking they paired up and Julia took responsibility for Elliott and Ethan for Christian. Throughout the walk the older ones watched over Elliott and Christian to keep them safe and cheered them on to motivate them to walk faster. It was great to see them helping.

Julia (8) and Ethan (6) are my superheros today for sharing their pizzas and for watching over their younger brothers.

Picture Request - Superhero Ethan

My mom recently sent a birthday package for Julia and Agnes. In it, she also included a bunch of old photos from when I was younger. In one of the pictures I had on a blue Spiderman sweatshirt and I looked about Ethan's age. This particular picture was also in a small frame. As soon as Ethan saw it he asked if he could have it. I said sure, thinking that he thought the frame was cool. Later that night when I checked on him in bed I found him laying there with the picture in his hands. When he saw me he thanked me for giving him the picture. He then told me that although he wanted to keep the same picture in the frame, he was wondering if we could take a picture of me and him together and also put it in the frame in front of the old one.

Ethan is my superhero today for prizing my picture and also wanting one of us together to keep.

Kind Notes - Superhero Julia

Julia and Ethan often complain to us that their bedtimes are too early. Although we do ask them to head to their rooms at the same time we put Christian, Elliott, and Agnes to bed, we do allow them to stay up as late as they want reading books, or drawing, or any other quiet activities from the confines of their bedroom. Ethan usually chooses to read some books. Julia, on the other hand, likes to draw and write notes. Today, she left some wonderful notes for both me and Rebecca.

Julia is my superhero today for the kind words that she had to share.

Believe it or not, she did all the decorating for her own birthday cake with minimal help from Rebecca.

Broccoli for Dessert? - Superhero Elliott

I am playing catch up on a few of these, but at least I am still getting them in.

For Family Home Evening on Monday, Rebecca prepared a great lesson on honesty. Our children do a really good job on this one most of the time, but it is always good to have a few reminders. We wanted to start the lesson by having the children learn how it feels when someone is not honest with you; so in preparing for the lesson, we told all the children that we would have a dessert right at the beginning. They were super excited! Then, as it was time to start, Rebecca went in to the kitchen and brought out a bag of broccoli and said "here is the dessert." At first Julia, Ethan, and Christian made questioning looks, but then the confused looks turned to tears, and then complaints of "you lied to us." So although we were able to get the point across, unfortunately, midst all of the tears, I think the main message that they got was that mom and dad lie to us (in Rebecca's defense, at the end of the lesson she did bring out a yummy dessert to everyone's satisfaction).  Contrary to everyone else's reactions, when Rebecca brought out the broccoli, Elliott started shouting "yay!"

Elliott is my superhero today for being a good sport and believing that whatever dessert mom and dad have for him is awesome.

Company at Church - Superhero Christian

I got to sit next to Christian at church today. Although we do not let our children bring any toys to church, they do each get a notebook and pencil and get to draw all they want. Today Christian was drawing scenes from Star Wars and Ninjago. They were really elaborate drawings and I was impressed. Throughout church, whenever he would add a figure to his drawing he would show it to me and tell me all about it.

Christian is my superhero today for sharing his pictures and imagination with me and keeping me company at church.

Room Cleaner - Superhero Christian

Friday is clean room day in our house. The kids have to have their rooms all clean before they get to join us for movie night. However, they often want to make sure it is done and have their Friday afternoons free, so they clean their rooms on Thursday. Today, Christian was the first one to finish his room. He really wanted to play with Ethan, but Ethan was still working on his. So Instead of going off and playing with Elliott or playing by himself, he helped Ethan with his room.

Christian is my superhero today for helping Ethan with his chore.

Birthday Girl - Superhero Julia

Julia and Agnes have birthdays just four days apart. Add to that Thanksgiving making November one of the funest months in our house. Julia turned eight today. Although we are doing the main celebrations on Saturday, she did get to pick out the meals and activities for the day. For breakfast we had chocolate chip pancakes with coconut syrup and giant sausages, for lunch Rebecca surprised her with Subway and ate with her at school (I got to stay home and eat leftover pancakes with the boys), for dinner we did homemade macaroni and cheese with corn, and then giant oatmeal cookies for dessert. This evening she chose to play more family games like tackles, tag, and London bridges. I think she had a fun time even though we were only half-way celebrating.

Julia is a very kind, caring, loving sister. She likes to organize make believe games with her brothers and lead in whatever activities she might think up for them. She likes to talk to both Rebecca and I and loves to get involved in whatever project we might be working on. But her kindness probably shows up most in how she interacts with Agnes. She frequently caries her around throughout the day, tries to make her laugh by playing games like peak-a-boo, dresses her up, and helps take care of her needs. Often, if Agnes starts to cry, Julia will even run and get her before Rebecca and I can.

This is a note she left me on our whiteboard.

Tiny Bite - Superhero Ethan

I usually skip lunch while I am at work, so I often come home hungry. Today I grabbed a few chocolates from the kids' Halloween stash. I thought I was eating it sneakily, but Ethan (6) caught me putting a Kit-Kat in my mouth. He then asked for a bite. I know Rebecca doesn't like them to snack on candy, so I tried to think fast. I told Ethan that I was having the candy because I didn't get the after school snack that they were all having. But then I felt bad (after all it is their candy) and Rebecca wasn't around, so I offered him the last bite. As I held it out to him, he leaned forward and took the tiniest little bite possible. I told him that he could have it all, but he said he didn't want any more. I asked him why, thinking maybe he didn't end up liking it. He said it was mine so he didn't want to eat it. I told him he could have it again, but he said no, he wanted me to have it since I didn't get the after school snack.

Ethan is my superhero today for letting me have the candy that I stole from him.

We'll Miss You - Superhero Elliott

We had some friends over for Family Home Evening (every Monday night we do a special lesson and activity as a family) today. They have three children that match in ages pretty close to Ethan, Christian, and Elliott. They prepared a lesson about putting on the armor of God and demonstrated it by showing how an orange floats with its armor (peel) on, but then sinks without it. We prepared the activities, which included scripture charades (drawing out a slip of paper with an individual from the scriptures on it and then acting it out to get others to guess), Ammon (one person plays the role of Ammon from the Book of Mormon, another the role of a sheep, and then everyone else tries to get the sheep while Ammon protects it with his/her sword), and dead man (usually played on a trampoline, a dead man rises and with his/her eyes closed and chases everyone else around). The last one turned into general roughhousing with the kids and luckily there were only a few minor injuries.

When it was time to go, Elliott (2) was the first to come to say goodbye while the rest of the kids continued to play around. After some coercing, all of the kids got their good-byes in. Then when it was quiet, Elliott added "we'll miss you."

Elliott is my superhero today for treating our guests kindly and making them feel special.

Birthday Girl - Superhero Agnes

Agnes turned one today! I don't have any particular stories of acts of kindness that she did today, but she brings so much joy to our family that I thought I would do an extra post about her. It seems like she had a great day and was mostly all smiles. We tried to think of her favorite dinner and we came up with spaghetti and meatballs. She ended up eating a ton, so maybe we got it right. She also got to try her first sweets and thoroughly enjoyed that.

Agnes is my superhero today for bringing joy to our family.

Sharing Toys - Superhero Ethan

Ethan got to go to a birthday party today for a friend from class. It seemed like all of the kids at the party had a fun time just playing with the toys that they had at their house. The girl's parents did have a few games planned, but the kids just kept going back to the toys and playing on their own. When it was time to go, the birthday girl gave Ethan a party favor bag to take home. As soon as Ethan got home, he gave out the toys that he got, one to each of his siblings to keep.

Ethan is my superhero today for giving away his toys so his siblings could also share in the fun.

Opening the Door - Superhero Christian

Once a year the children in church do the entire main meeting. Each child usually does a small speaking part and then they all sing lots of songs. I think it is everyone's favorite meeting of the year. Today we had a practice and so I took Julia, Ethan, and Christian, and Rebecca stayed home with Elliott and Agnes. We were running a little late and so when we pulled up I sent the children in while I closed all the doors and locked up the car. When I walked up to the building a few moments later, Christian (4) was still standing there, holding the door open for me. I realized that he does that a lot and sometimes I don't recognize it.

Christian is my superhero today for holding the door open.

Reading Helper - Superhero Christian

When I finished my shower this morning, I came out to find the three boys on the couches reading. Ethan has been getting into harder chapter books and has been reading one about a series of shark attacks over a summer that he hasn't been able to put down. It is a non-fiction book told as a story, so I have been really surprised that he likes it so much. Up until this point all of the books he has been reading have been about fictionalized characters like Ricky Ricotta or Melvin Beterman. Christian likes Lego books, Ninjago, Star Wars, and anything superhero. This morning I caught him reading to Elliott and even though Elliott was bumping him and crowding him on the couch, he kept sharing.

Christian is my superhero today for reading to his brother.

Helping on the Playground - Superhero Julia

Following up on yesterday's post, today I asked Julia to tell me about something nice that she did for someone at school. She said that during recess there was a girl who was trying to figure out a mystery on the playground. Instead of playing her own games, she helped that girl solve the mystery. Based on her report, it sounded like Julia had a fun time while she was helping out.

Julia is my superhero today for befriending a younger girl at her school.