Passing Out Candy - Superhero Elliott

The kids were all very excited for trick-or-treating this evening. There were some last minute costume changes and Julia ended up being Cinderella, Ethan was a ninja (he was going to be a dragon), Christian was a knight, Elliott was a lion (he was almost a fireman), and Agnes was a penguin. We all went out for about 30 minutes and knocked on doors up and down our street. But then Agnes started to get a little fussy. Our original plan was for Rebecca to take just Agnes home and I was going to continue on with the other four. However, Elliott informed us that he had a stinky diaper so he joined Rebecca and Agnes at home. I was a little worried that after he got his diaper changed he would be expecting to go back out, but that didn't end up being the case at all.

Each year we usually get way too much candy, so rather than buy a bunch at the store and having some leftovers from that too, we just pass out some of the candy that we picked up from the first shift. We also start with the suckers, Jolley Ranchers, gum, and other sticky candy so we have fewer messes at home. Rebecca told me that Elliott had no problem passing out the candy that he had just got to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door. Pretty impressive for a 2-year-old! We all share the candy as a family anyway, but I don't know if he realized that when he was giving his away.

Elliott is my superhero today for sharing his candy with strangers.

Sharing the iPad - Superhero Elliott

The kids don't often get to use the iPad at home, but we do have a few coloring apps and scripture games on them and sometimes if they ask first we say okay. This morning Elliott (2) woke up early and saw it by the side of my bed (I use it for my alarm clock) and asked if he could use it. Since Rebecca and I try to exercise together in the mornings, I told him he could use it during that time. Ethan woke up shortly after and joined him on the couch. At first Ethan just watched, but then he started to take over. I told Ethan that it was Elliott's turn this morning and he needed to give it back. He did, but then he started to explain to me how he never gets to use the iPad and if he doesn't get to play with it right now, he won't get a chance to use it at all today. He went through his plans for the entire day and told me all about how he was booked with other activities and so this was his only chance. Still, I let him know that this was Elliott's turn and if he wanted, he could ask Elliott if he could have a turn as well. He replied that that would never work, but just as he was saying that, Elliott handed over the iPad to him and said "Ethan's turn." They were able to share back and forth a few times while Rebecca and I finished our exercises.

Elliott is my superhero today for sharing his turn with the iPad.

Deportment Awards - Superheros Julia and Ethan

Today, Julia (7) and Ethan (6) had their first quarter awards assembly at school. In addition for being recognized for their grades and for being the art stars for the quarter, both received awards for deportment. That means that not only did they make it through the quarter without getting in trouble, their teachers also specifically recognized how courteous, kind, and helpful they were to others. I don't ever get to see all the kind acts that they do at school so they often get left out of these entries, but these awards are evidence of how helpful and kind they are when they are away from home.

Julia and Ethan are my superheros today for earning deportment awards.

Popcorn Sharing - Superhero Julia

Every Friday we have a family tradition of watching a movie together and eating popcorn. At Julia and Ethan's school they also sell bags of popcorn at 50 cents per bag on Fridays. Ethan hasn't really been interested in the school popcorn that much, but Julia talks about it almost every Friday. I could understand if they ate it in class and she wanted some so she could fit in and eat it with everyone else, but they just hand it to the kids as the walk out of the classroom door at the end of the day. So, we have had plenty of talks with her about how she can have as much popcorn as she wants at home and how we make our huge bowls full on Friday all for about 5 cents, and the bags are so tiny in comparison. Still, she has continued to want that school popcorn each and every week.

Since Julia (7) is always polite in asking for for the school popcorn and since she has been willing to pay her own money, today we finally gave the okay. I can imagine how excited she was to receive it as she was standing in line waiting to come home. When Rebecca picked her up she had her popcorn in her hands and she was smiling from ear to ear. She held that popcorn close until she made it home and then called her siblings around to share. She ended up probably eating less of it than her brothers, but she was still so happy.

Julia is my superhero today for sharing her hard-earned (not just because she had to spend her own money, but also because it took her months to convince mom and dad) popcorn with her siblings.

Headlock Hugging - Superhero Agnes

Elliott loves to give Agnes (11 months) hugs. However, he doesn't always remember to do them soft enough yet for her. The hugs sometimes end with distressed screams on her part, me or Rebecca coming to the rescue, and Elliott looking confused about why his hug didn't turn out better. Today he was hugging Agnes by putting her in a headlock and squeezing her close. Although he was just as rough as usual, for some reason Agnes was able to endure it well. Each time he pulled her close, she smiled and giggled away.

Agnes is my superhero today for enjoying the tough love from her brother.

Bless You! - Superhero Elliott

Elliot (2) really pays a lot of attention to what others are doing, what they are thinking, and how they are feeling. For example, after I dropped the kids off at school I came back and sat on the couch to work from home. Elliott saw me in my white shirt and tie and asked if I had gone to the temple this morning. I usually do go to the temple on Wednesday mornings and so I guess he has learned that  if I am dressed up in the morning I probably went to the temple. As another example, he usually picks up on when someone is getting ready to go somewhere several minutes ahead of time and without anyone saying anything will ask if he can come along.

Today as we were reading books together, I sneezed. Elliott right away said "bless you dad!" I am not really sure where he picked that up from because although we have previously talked about how saying that is polite, he definitely hasn't had modeling from his older siblings. Althugh this type of concern for others is common for him, for some reason today's "bless you" helped me remember how considerate he always is.

Elliott is my superhero today for wishing me well when I sneezed.

Shadow Helper - Superhero Christian

Of all of our children, Christian (4) is definitely the most independent. He likes playing games with his siblings and telling us all about who he is pretending to be or his Lego creations, but he seems to be just as happy playing by himself. Often when it is time for chores, he likes to sneak off somewhere and play his own games. However, today, as I was cleaning up, he followed me around helping out with lots of the things I was working on. He helped take care of the garbage, vacuum, set the table, get pajamas for his younger siblings, and do some general pick up. I didn't ask him to do any of it, he just saw me working and started helping out.

Christian is my superhero today for helping me with jobs around the house.

Cookie Monster - Superhero Elliott

My uncle and aunt treated us to dinner this evening at Glacier Brewhouse, which was really good. Each of the kids picked their own meals - Julia, Christian, and Elliott all went with pizza and Ethan had a hamburger. Their meals also came with a drink, a fruit cup, and an ice cream sandwich for dessert (not the store bought kind, but two big cookies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle). We had talked about dinner manners a lot before going and they all did pretty good. There were a few mishaps - Christian and Julia had a little scuffle over the katsup. Agnes spilled her water. We didn't know the prices for the kids meals so we told the kids we would wait until we got there and saw the menu and then we would tell them if they could get a kids meal or share an adult pizza. As soon as we sat down Ethan held up the kids menu and shouted "so, can we get a kids meal?" - but overall they did great.

When it came time for dessert, Elliott (2) started to eat his cookie. After two bites he held it up and asked Agnes if she wanted some. Of course Agnes grabbed for it, but because she is not one yet, I had to intervene. After I told him she couldn't have any, he shoved a big bite into my mouth. He then continued to eat the rest of the sandwich holding up about every other bite for me to eat.

Elliott is my superhero today for sharing his cookie.

Finishing The Book of Mormon - Superhero Christian

As a family we try to read scriptures every night before we head to bed. When the kids were younger we would read the children's illustrated scriptures that are put out by The Church. However, last Christmas we decided that we wanted to start reading the actual scriptures, starting with the Book of Mormon. To help excite the kids, we set a goal that if we finished the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the year we would go out to eat as a family. Yesterday we made it through the sixth chapter of Moroni (the last book in the Book of Mormon). With only four chapters remaining, the kids asked if we could read them all this afternoon. 

We then had a conversation about where we should go. Some of the ideas included Golden Corral, Red Robin, Moose's Tooth (a pizza place), McDonalds, and Texas Roadhouse. After a lengthy discussion about the advantages of each, we decided to take a vote. Julia and Ethan voted for Golden Corral, Rebecca and Christian voted for Texas Roadhouse, and I voted for either one of those two. Given the tie, we had people share what they liked about both of those options. In the end, Christian (4) said that he would switch his vote. We rarely go out to eat (maybe once a year) and so for someone to give up their top choice is really a big deal. At Golden Corral they all had a great time filling up on cotton candy, ice cream, marshmallows dipped in chocolate, gummy bears, macaroni and cheese, french fries, and a few salad items (in that order).

Christian is my superhero today for sacrificing his top choice of restaurants.

Tea Party Fun - Superhero Julia

Every so often Julia (7) prepares a special tea party for the family. In preparation for a tea party this afternoon she cut up apples, prepared some carrot stick, made some lemonade, and got one Oreo cookie for each person. She then set the table and called us all in. When we arrived at the table a special personalized note was set at each of our places. The one she wrote to me said "Dear Dad - I hope you have a good and special day. Love Julia". Others said "Dear Mom - You are the kindest mom on earth.", "Dear Ethan - You are so good at sharing.", "Dear Christian - You are so kind, I hope you like the tea party.", "Dear Elliott - I love you! You are young, but nice.". We all felt very loved and excited for the tea party after reading our notes.

Julia is my superhero today for sharing her kind messages.

Giving Up His Seat - Superhero Ethan

My uncle and aunt were over visiting again today. After a wonderful breakfast of pumpkin pancakes that Rebecca prepared, we decided to head out and see a few sites in the Anchorage area. The first stop was Potter's Marsh. Julia and Ethan had asked if they could ride with my uncle and aunt and so we said okay. Their jeep only had two extra seat belts so, Christian, Elliott, and Agnes were stuck with us. After a fun, but cold walk around the marsh, we decided to go see the waterfall and view at the McHugh Creek Park. This time we traded and Christian and Elliott were in the jeep with them, while Ethan and Julia were back with us. Then it was time to head home. Julia, Ethan, and Christian all wanted to ride in the jeep again and each had convincing arguments for why they should get a second turn. Unable to decide, I told them all that they would have to ride in our car. Right after I said that, Ethan (6) spoke up and said he would ride with us so Julia and Christian could ride with my aunt and uncle.

Ethan is my superhero for giving up his seat for his siblings.

Getting Ready for School - Superhero Julia

On Thursday I have to go in to work early for meetings and so Rebecca is left getting Julia and Ethan off to school on her own. This means she has to help them with their lunches, has to prepare breakfast, encourage them to brush their teeth and get dressed, and prepare Christian, Elliott, and Agnes so they can all hop in the car and drive them in. While she is amazing at doing this, she also does usually get some great help from Julia. She reported to me that today was no exception. Julia got Elliott's socks and coat on, put toothpaste on everyone's toothbrush, gently encouraging Ethan and Christian to get their coats on, got Elliott in the car, buckled him up, and wrapped him in a blanket since it was a cold morning.

Julia is my superhero today for helping the morning go smoothly.

Waiting Patiently - Superhero Ethan

We were having the missionaries from our church over for dinner again this evening and Ethan had been waiting for them to arrive all day long. Ethan had bought a new spy kit book from his school book fair and he was just dying to show it to them. Every thirty minutes or so he would tell me about how he was going to show them all the cool things in the book. Then, just 15 minutes before they arrived the book went missing. I was able to make a deal with him that if he worked on cleaning up, I would work on looking for it. Fortunately, the house got cleaned and the book found just moments before they knocked on the door.

The missionaries came upstairs and sat on the couch and right as Ethan (6) opened his mouth, Julia jumped in and started showing the books that she had bought. Instead of complaining or trying to talk over her, he patiently waited with his book in hand until she was done. But then, Christian was sitting right next to them. Ethan, very politely asked Christian if he could scoot over so he could show the book to the missionaries. I thought about calling them all in for dinner right at that second to really test Ethan, but figured that would be a little too much. Ethan was able to show them all about the secret messages he could write with his invisible ink and the fun spy activities that were described throughout the book.

Ethan is my superhero today for waiting patiently to share his new book with the missionaries.

Helping clean up - Superhero Julia

I had a church meeting at our house tonight and so when I came home I was busy cleaning up and getting ready for it. Julia came to me and asked me to spend some time playing with her and her brothers. Looking back now, I should have said yes and made that a priority, but at the time I was just a little too stressed getting ready and so I had told her no. She wanted to spend time with me so much that she dropped the activities that she was doing and started to help me get things ready.

Julia is my superhero today for helping out and for valuing time with me so much hat she chose work over play.

Playing with Company - Superheros Julia, Ethan, and Christian

My cousin and her boyfriend recently moved to Alaska. We've been meaning to get together with them, but just never found the time to do it until today. Not only did they come over, but my Uncle and Aunt are up from Oklahoma visiting them, so they came over too. We spent a lot of time with them when we lived in Oklahoma for school, so we were really excited to see them all. Julia, Ethan, and Christian were great hosts. Not only did they use pretty good manners during dinner, they entertained our guests with plenty of jokes, and roughhousing. Sometimes the three of them get a little too wild for guests, but today it all seemed welcome. They had a great time and so I think our guests did too. Elliott also did a good job, but he had just woken up from a nap so he was a little more subdued than the other children.

Julia, Ethan, and Christian are my superheros today for playing well with our visitors.

Getting Ready for Rebecca - Superhero Elliott

We spent a lot of time today getting ready for Rebecca and Agnes to come home. Luckily they weren't scheduled to arrive until 9:30 PM, so we had all day to clean up the messes we had been making all week. I had the kids help me with a couple small jobs and help pick up their own things, but I just planned on tackling jobs like the kitchen, laundry, vacuuming, and the bathroom on my own. While I worked I set up blocks and Legos to keep them occupied. Periodically throughout the day Elliott (2) would approach me and ask how he could help. Although having a 2 year old help wash the windows is never very productive, I was happy to have the company.

Elliott is my superhero today for helping me clean up the house.

Holding the Phone - Superhero Julia

Julia (7) continues to be a huge help at home while Rebecca has been away. Today she set the table again and prepared the dinner, all with minimal help from me. When Rebecca called this evening, Julia was the first to talk to her. After her came Elliott. Even though Elliott knows how to talk on the phone, Julia was afraid that he might do it wrong or might not realize that this was his chance to talk to Mom. She stood there by him and held the phone up next to his ear. She also coached him of things to say. She did that for about five minutes until it was Christian's turn. Although I was impressed by her arm strength to be able to hold the phone for him for so long, I was even more impressed by how kindly she helped Elliott make the most of his phone call.

Julia was my superhero today for helping Elliott on the phone.

Help with dinner - Superhero Julia

On Tuesdays, Julia is the only one who has homework. So today while she was working away on it, the boys were all checking out the new books I picked up from the library. I was expecting her to go join them once she was done and I finished checking her work. But instead, she asked if she could set the table and then help me cook. I know she likes cooking, so I wasn't too surprised, but I don't know where the offer to set the table came from. Although I did some of the measuring a chopping for the meal, she ended up cooking the rest of the fried rice all on her own. She then made some homemade pudding for dessert, including finding the recipe in the cookbook, getting out all of the ingredients, and then making it all up. It allowed me to catch up on some of the dishes that I had fallen behind on and gave us lots of time to read together after dinner was over.

Julia was my superhero today for helping me prepare dinner and dessert.

Sharing Sandwiches - Superhero Elliott

I know Rebecca has a whole food system worked out with the kids, but I forgot to ask her the exact times on it all. Christian and Elliott were busy playing this morning and I was trying to do a little work from home, so I ended up missing the morning snacks. When I finally realized what I had done, it was already 12:15 - which I think is a whole hour after Christian and Elliott usually eat lunch. I am sure they were both starved.

We ended up doing tuna fish sandwiches at Christian's request. I made one for myself and one for Elliott and Christian to share. While I was making them on the counter, I asked Christian and Elliott to get in their seats. I first brought over Elliott's (2) half, cut into two pieces. I guess he didn't see that I had more that I hadn't brought over yet, because as soon as I turned around he held up one of his pieces and said "Christian, do you want one?"

Elliott is my superhero today for offering part of his sandwich to his brother.

Dirty Job - Superheros Christian and Elliott

About a year ago our garbage system moved to fancy trucks with claws that pick up the garbage cans and dumps them into the top of the truck. Although it works pretty good, sometimes the can is tilted just enough before it reaches the opening that a few things drop out onto the ground. Christian, Elliott, and I were watching the truck as it got to our house today. As it raised our garbage can, a grocery bag filled with dirty diapers that I had placed on the top slid out and barely missed the opening. Luckily I had tied the bag closed tight and none of the diaper bombs tumbled out of it. Unfortunately, I breathed a sigh of relief too quickly. As I looked closer I noticed that the stuffed bag fell right in the path of the truck's back tires. Although I made a dash to the door, I wasn't quick enough. As the truck inched forward to the next house, the huge tires popped the bag open and 30 or so sticky diapers were smashed on the street.

Christian (4), Elliott (2), and I laughed for a couple of minutes, but then I figured I better clean it up quickly before all of the neighbors started to complain. As I headed out with my snow shovel, Christian and Elliott said they wanted to help. Of course, given the nature of the job, I didn't let them do too much, but it was still nice to have the company.

Christian and Elliott are my superheros today for helping me clean up the mound of squished stinky diapers from off the street.

Game Pick-up - Superhero Ethan

I know I missed a couple of days last week, so I wanted to do two posts for today. As I was doing dishes after dinner Elliott disappeared somewhere downstairs. After I finished up, Ethan (6) and I went to look for him. We found him downstairs with a couple games (Chutes and Ladders and Candyland) spread out on the couch and floor. 

After putting the kids to bed I remembered the mess. As I started to clean everything up, Ethan came out and asked if he could help. I am not sure if he was just trying to stay up later, but I thought it was nice that he remembered the mess too and wanted to help me out.

Ethan is my superhero today for offering to help pick up the games.

Sharing Swords - Superhero Julia

Per our usual Sunday routine, after church today we headed over to visit and take the sacrament to an elderly lady that we have come to know since moving up to Alaska. Contrary to our usual routine, since Rebecca was gone, I needed to take all four remaining kids in with me - they usually rotate weeks and only one gets to go in with me at a time. The lady and her son that we visit have a small toy bucket in the living room that the kids always run to. Being the oldest, Julia and Ethan made it to the bucket first today and they both grabbed the two swords. Elliott also wanted a sword though and when Julia (7) saw this she gave hers to him and pretended a toy drumstick was also a sword instead.

They all had a good time fighting. As I was picking up some of the messes I turned around to see Elliott attacking the 90+ year old lady we were visiting. She was doing her best to block the blows with her hands and the swords were only foam, but I could tell that it was a little too much for her, and so I quickly found him new target to attack. Last time we had visited he gave her a sword at least, but I guess this time he wanted to get his opponent by surprise while she was defenseless.

Julia is my superhero today for giving her sword to Elliott, even though he ended up using it for devious purposes.

Stuffed Animal Delivery - Superhero Ethan

Each of the kids has one main stuffed animal that they have had since they were born. Julia has a bear, Ethan an elephant, Christian a monkey, Elliott a llama, and Agnes a sheep. There relationships with their stuffed animals have all been a little different. Julia loves stuffed animals and has 10 or so in here room or on her bed at any given time. Ethan slept with his when he was younger, but I haven't seen it around much lately. Christian likes to put capes on his and pretend it is a superhero. And Elliott never really used his all that much.

About an hour after I put the kids to bed this evening I heard Christian start to holler. I ran in there and he had gotten his arm stuck in between two bars of his bunkbed. After helping him get free I tucked him back in. Just as I was saying good night, Ethan (6) came running in. He had Christian's monkey in his hand and he thought Christian might need it based on his screams.

Today, Ethan is my superhero for bringing Christian his stuffed animal.

Sweet Goodbyes - Superheros Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott

It was a busy day for us today. I took off at 5:30 in the morning for a flight up to Fairbanks. Luckily I was able to carpool with a co-worker so the kids didn't have to wake up early. I was up in Fairbanks for a day long meeting and didn't get back until 7pm. That meant a long day for Rebecca, having to do everything on her own from getting the kids ready in the morning, taking them to and picking them up from school, getting dinner ready, eating, and doing our Friday night activities all without me. What made it harder though is that she had a flight out to North Carolina for a week long family reunion at 9:30 this evening. That meant she also had to pack and get ready for that and, on top of everything else, she wanted to get things ready for me so it would be a smooth trip while she was away. So we had about an hour overlap between when I got home and her flight.

All of the kids were very kind in saying their good-byes. During that hour they all made cards for Rebecca that expressed their love for their mom and told her how much they missed her. They also gave her lots of hugs and kisses. After we dropped her off at the airport I sat in the car and had a brief talk about how this could be a really fun week together for us, but we would all have to work together. I asked them what fun things they would like to do this week and Julia was the first to reply. She said that we should watch lots of home videos of Mommy and Agnes. I said that it would be fine for some, but thought if we watched too many we might just get lonely and sad. Ethan chimed in and said he didn't think we could watch too many and that was what he wanted to do too. It was a somber drive home from the airport, so looks like I will have my work cut out for me trying to keep the kids happy while mom is away. 

(I think this contrasts greatly with their reaction to me being gone for the day. A little after I got home I asked Elliott if he missed me. He said no. Trying to see if he realized I was gone, I asked him if I was there for some of the Friday activities, like playing after school, dinner, and the move. He was sure I was there for all of them. I promise I am not an absentee dad, but I guess mI'm going away is just a much bigger deal than dad being gone for the day.)

Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott are all my superheros today for giving Rebecca and Agnes such a warm good-bye.

Table Setter - Superhero Elliott

I think I already did a post about Elliott (2) setting the table, but he is just really good at it. Today Rebecca was preparing dinner, Julia, Ethan, and Christian were downstairs playing, Agnes was taking a nap, I was doing some work from home, and Elliott was hanging out upstairs talking with us and looking for something to do. We were having missionaries from our church come over and I think he was excited for that. Wanting to engage him in something before he snuck off to wake up Agnes, Rebecca started to invite him to help her with cooking the dinner. She got through "Elliott, do you want to help" when he shouted out "set table!" Although that wasn't what she was thinking, she couldn't turn up an offer like that. I am not sure what he finds so exciting about setting the table, but I am sure glad that he likes to help.

Elliott is my superhero today for volunteering to help set the table.

F.H.E. Helper - Superhero Ethan

Every Monday we get together as a family for a family night. This usually includes a short gospel lesson, reading the scriptures, some games, and dessert. To help get everyone involved we usually rotate through assignments. Tonight, Ethan (6) was in charge of the lesson. As we planned it out I had lots of good ideas to share with him, but he kept turning them down. Then he told me that he wanted to do something that everyone would think was fun (I thought all my ideas were fun). With that requirement in mind we were able to come up with some activities that taught about faith (falling backward from a chair), repentance (we couldn't think of anything for that so Ethan just described the process), baptism (practiced to get Julia ready for her baptism in just over a month), the Gift of the Holy Ghost (Ethan held up a gift bag and had people guess what gift it was as he described the blessings of the Holy Ghost), and enduring to the end (we did wall squats - I was the first to give up).

Ethan is my superhero today for not just sharing a good lesson, but for thinking about what his brothers and sisters might enjoy.

Reminder for Scriptures and Prayer - Superhero Elliott

Every night, before we put the kids to bed, we read the scriptures, sing a hymn, and say a prayer as a family. Rebecca and I had discussed how since we listened to four hours of general conference today, we would skip the scriptures in our nightly routine. As it got closer to bedtime, we had the kids get in their pajamas and brush their teeth. We then started to gather them all together for a family prayer. As we did so, Elliott (2), looking very concerned, started saying "scriptures" over and over again.

Elliott is my superhero today for reminding us of the importance of reading scriptures as a family.

Conference Helper - Superhero Ethan

Twice a year the Prophet and our other church leaders speak to the world in a general conference. These conferences include six 2-hour meetings over the course of two weekends. To learn more or listen to what they have to say, you can visit this website (www.lds.org). Given the length of these sessions and the fact that they are primarily geared toward adults, we try to come up with activities to keep them engaged. One activity that we do is have a few bowls of goodies (e.g., licorice, grapes, chocolate chips) and each bowl represents a word or topic. Each time the kids hear a word, they get to grab a treat from that bowl. As they were listening today, whenever Ethan (6) would heart word he would first hand out treats to Christian and Elliott and then grab one for himself.

Ethan is my superhero today for helping his siblings get their treats.

Sharing Laughs - Superhero Christian

Christian (4) was reading a Bearastin Bears book when he came to a part that he thought was really funny. While looking at the page, he just started cracking up. He thought it was so funny that he went around to both Rebecca and I and all of his siblings sharing the picture. Finally he came to Agnes. I don't think she even looked at what he was showing her, but hearing him laugh made her start to laugh too. They both went on laughing for about a minute, Christian laughing at the picture and Agnes just joining along.

Christian is my superhero today for sharing his happiness with other in our family.

Help Making Beds - Superhero Christian

Every Thursday Rebecca washes all of the sheets for the kids. We like to have them hang dry as much as possible, which usually means that they are not ready to be put back on the beds until right when it is bedtime. Although Julia and Ethan are pretty good at helping out for their beds, Christian and Elliott often turn in to wild monsters at this time (they like to wrap themselves in the sheets, jump on the beds as I am trying to make them, and sometimes pull the blankets and sheets off the bed right after I put them on.

This evening I told them both that they could play on whatever bunk I am not working on, but if I was currently trying to make it, they had to stay off. I started with the top and that worked pretty well. But then when I got to the bottom they started hanging off of the top. I was amazed at how strong they were and how they could hang themselves down and then pick themselves back up to the top bunk. Elliott had a little harder time doing it, so his feet would often land on the bottom bed (the one I was trying to make) when he hung down. When this happened, Christian (4), wanting to help his brother follow the rules, would kindly remind him not to do that and then showed him how to do it without touching.

Christian is my superhero today for helping his brother follow the rules and thus helping me have an easier time making the beds.

Good night kisses - Superhero Elliott

At bedtime each child gets a song, a hug and kiss, and a drink of water from me after they have gone to the bathroom, said their prayers, and hopped in bed. Most of the time I let the children pick their own songs - Julia almost always picks Armies of Helaman, Ethan picks I am a Child of God, Christian picks Onward Christian Soldiers or Book of Mormon Stories, and Elliott picks Do As I'm Doing. However, depending on my energy level I might pick a different fun song that they are less familiar with (that happens when I feel like I have lots of energy), or the shortest song I can possibly think of (when I am worn out and ready for bed myself). My short songs are either I Hope They Call Me On a Mission or Kindness Begins with Me. Both are good songs, so I don't feel like the kids are really missing out if they get one of those songs.

With me still being sick, tonight was a short song night, which Christian was not too happy about. In order to show is displeasure he told me that he was not giving me a kiss. I grabbed him and gave him a big one anyway, but he still refused to kiss me back. As I was closing the door to their room, Elliott (2) hollered out "wait, Christian needs a kiss!" I guess he hadn't heard me give one to him and he knew that kisses were important and he didn't want his brother to miss out.

Today, Elliott is my superhero for looking out for his brother's well-being.