Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - Superhero Elliott

Every Sunday at the end of church, my children run down the halls (despite our repeated counsel to walk in church) to get candy from the bishop's office. The bishop allows them to get two treats. Usually it includes things like hi-chews and taffy; however, this Sunday they were coming out with mini-snickers and mini-M&Ms. As soon as Elliott saw me he told me to close my eyes. While they were closed he placed one of his treats (a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) in my pocket. He knows that those are my favorite and so he got one of his candies specifically for me. When I pulled it out of my pocket and said thank you he jumped up and down because he was so happy. Elliott is my superhero today for his selfless sharing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Breakfast Caller - Superhero Elliott

Although we like to eat breakfast as a family, every once in a while Christian or Elliott will still be sleeping when it is time to eat. Given the rarity of this event, we usually just let them sleep in, thinking that they must be super tired.

Today when we gathered for our morning family prayer, Christian was still in bed. When Elliott (2) didn't notice him with the rest of the family he shouted "wait for Christian!" When we told him that Christian was still sleeping, he politely asked if he could go wake him up. At first we said no, but Julia and Ethan reported that they had already been in his room and he had been stirring in his bed. So, we gave the okay and off Elliott went. As he trekked down the stairs I could hear him saying "time for breakfast Christian, time for breakfast." After a couple of minutes, they both came up with smiles on their faces.

Elliott is my superhero today for making sure that his brother didn't miss out on breakfast with the family.

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.