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.

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.

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.

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.

Preparing for Choir - Superheros Julia, Ethan, Christian, Elliott, and Agnes

Rebecca started conducting before church choir practice today. I thought it went pretty well. It seemed like a good number of people showed up, and from where I was sitting, they sounded really good. Perhaps one other reason why I thought it went well is because with these before church choir practices I end up getting the morning off. Since I have meetings in the morning, there is just no way for me to get home in time to help get the kids in the car and back to church before the start of choir. That means Rebecca has to get all of the kids ready for church on her own.

Although Rebecca did do a lot of work getting everyone ready, she did report that all of the kids were a big help. Not only did they do well in bathing, getting dressed, eating, and getting in the car, they also helped her prepare for the choir. In Julia and Ethan's after school choir they have to go to study hall if they are not listening or participating as the should. So all of the kids made study hall passes for Rebecca to hand out to anyone who needed a time out during the ward choir practice. There were a few older sisters in the choir who I thought came close to getting one :), but luckily the passes went unused.

Julia, Ethan, Christian, Elliott, and Agnes were my superheros today for helping get ready for choir on time.

Pray for Your Enemies - Superhero Christian

Christian (4) sometimes says some pretty funny prayers. For example, he wants to make sure he covers everything and everyone in his prayers, but he often wants to do it as efficiently as possible. Some common things that he might say are "thank you for everything inside our house and everything outside our house" or "please bless everyone in our family and bless everyone who is not in our family" or "please bless all of the good guys and all of the bad guys." Tonight he was asked to say a prayer for dinner. In that prayer he said "please bless all the people I don't like" and "thank your for all of the people I don't like." He has never talked about not liking someone in the past, so I am not really sure who all he was referring to. Whoever they might be though, at least they are blessed.

Christian is my superhero today for thinking about others in his prayers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vegetable Sharing - Superhero Christian

We had a couple young moose come visit our back yard this afternoon. I was headed out to the garden to pick the last of our rhubarb when I saw some big brown things start to move around by the side of our deck. It had been a while since we had last had moose in our yard, so it took me by surprise - I think my initial thought were that it must be a bear or Sasquatch or something. Once I realized what it was I called all the kids out and from the second floor deck we safely watched them walk around eating our bushes. They eventually made it to our peas and a cheer erupted from the kids. Then Christian suggested that we go get some of our carrots to feed them. Now you may think that he was trying to see what other vegetables he could get rid of, but our kids actually love carrots.

Christian is my superhero today for kindly wanting to share our carrots with the moose.

Entry Way Pick-up - Superhero Christian

We were having guests over again for dinner this evening. Usually when someone is coming over we spend the last 30 minutes before they arrive picking up everything from books, to toys, to clothes, to dirty diapers. Today though we had planned ahead and were able to fit in a walk right before the visitors were to arrive. When we got home the kids had just thrown their shoes and coats on the floor in the entry way. Since Ethan was off to set the table (more on that in a second post for today since I didn't get one in yesterday), I hollered out to see if Julia could help clean it up. Right after I finished calling for her I started tripping over Christian (4). As I looked down to see what he was doing, I realized that he was throwing all of the shoes and coats and everything else into the closet.

Christian is my superhero today for picking up the entry way without even being asked.

Two More Great Playmates - Superheros Christian and Elliott

This week was a busy week for Rebecca - on Wednesday and Friday she watched two kids (ages 5 & 1) all day for a friend, and on Thursday she watched three kids (ages 4, 1, &1) part of the day for a different friend. Although Rebecca was the true superhero, Christian (4) and Elliott (2) deserve props too. They did a great job sharing their mom (it was funny to watch all the kids squish close to her as she would try to read them stories), their Legos (that's a really hard thing for Christian, especially when it comes to the Star Wars guys), their other toys, and just be good friends while playing with these other children. They helped make it so the other children didn't miss their parents so much and so they had a fun time while they were visiting.

Today Christian and Elliott are my superheros for being good friends.

Cleaning Helpers - Superheros Julia, Ethan, Christian, Elliott, & Agnes

Once every three months we have the opportunity to help out in cleaning our church. Today was our turn. All of the children woke up early excited to help out. After a quick breakfast we rushed out the door. I am not sure if they got a lot done, but they were more than happy to help out in their own way - they helped with the dusting and with the mopping. They even did a good job sharing the cleaning supplies with each other without fighting too much about whose turn it was to do what. Even Agnes did a great job hanging out in the baby sling while I worked on the bathrooms. As we were finishing up, the children disappeared for a little while. I found them in the gym with a couple of chairs set up facing the stage and the lights off. They asked me to sit down and then they presented a short play of kung fu fighting.

Today, all of the children are my superheros for happily doing their part to help clean the church.