God Bless The U.S.A

Alden has recently become very interested in listening to music. His favorite song is "Dynamite," which has been a huge tool for me in helping us get our basement clean. I simply hook up my MP3 player to our computer's speakers, crank it up as loud as it will go, and the boys and I start cleaning. By the time Taio Cruz sings "Dynamite" four times, our basement is spick and span. I love it! Usually when we finish, Alden wants to listen to Weird Al songs, especially those that have to do with Star Wars and superheros.

Yesterday was a "Dynamite" cleaning day as I've described. When we finished, Alden once again, asked to listen to Weird Al songs. Thobe asked me if we could listen to a song about the U.S.A. (He is really into the U.S.A. and army men. He's made up a super hero named U.S.A. Face, who has a pet eagle named Baldy, and who has an enemy named Al Qaida Face--I'll have to write a post about his later). I thought it would be fun to listen to "God Bless the U.S.A." and turned that on.

We began listening to this song, and Thobe was really happy. Alden asked me if this was a sad song. I told him that it usually makes me cry, but it's not a sad song. We continued to listen, and when it said, "And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me," Alden said, "Mom, is this talking about our soldiers?" I told him that it was, and that included two of his great grandparents who fought in World War II. At this point, my sweet Alden said, "Mom, I don't know why, but I think I'm going to cry."

I love that even at such a young age, that Alden has a love for his country, a respect for those who laid down their lives to make us free, and an understanding that God has given us all these blessings. I also love that he is so devoted to his family, even to his ancestors that have gone on before him. What a great blessing it is to be Americans and to be able to use our God-given freedom! I too love my country and my family and am so proud of my son who respects all this too.

A Surprise Visitor

A few days ago, we FINALLY had a small spot of nice weather....FINALLY. This has been a very cold and dreary winter, so when we had a day in the 60s, we were very excited (I'm hoping for another day like that someday). Anyway, the boys were especially happy about playing outside and did so as long as we let them. On their way back in to the house, they let in what they thought was our cat Priscilla.

So the boys came in and got their pajamas on, and then we read Scriptures and said prayers as a family. Thobe has a had a rough time falling to sleep at night, so Michael was gently tickling his face while I hugged Hyrum. The house was just starting to quiet down when we heard a lot of meowing. Our kitty does not make a lot of noise unless something is wrong, so Michael ran downstairs as quickly as he could. A few minutes later he called, "Melissa, there is a little kitten in our house! You have to come and see it." I told him I did not want to see it because then I might like it, and we did not need more than one cat. Being the coaxing husband that he is, I went down in the basement and looked at it. 

The poor little thing was scared out of its whits and was very cute. We tried to talk it out of the closet where it was hiding, but it didn't want to come. We just sat and watched the basketball game that we were watching, and eventually, it came out of hiding. After that, the little guy wouldn't leave us alone. All he wanted to do was to snuggle with us, which was a bad thing for me because I was allergic to him. He was very, very affectionate and happy, and we knew that unless he belonged to someone else that he would be a good cat for Michael's parents.

It was especially interesting the next morning when we introduced him to the kids. Hyrum kept saying, "Oh Priscilla really likes me," as it nestled itself against him. Priscilla usually hides (and for good reason) when she sees Hyrum and Jacob. Alden and Thobe loved the new kitty. He would snuggle and play with them as long as they were willing. However, the most entertaining duo was Jacob and the kitten. The kitten loved attention, and Jacob had no problem giving him far more attention than he wanted. The kitten would snuggle next to Jacob and then he would put his arms around the kitty and give him a very tight hug. Eventually the hug would get even tighter, and Jacob and the kitten would roll across the floor. Surprisingly the first 10 times of this seemed to be fine with the kitty, but after awhile the kitty didn't love it and ran away. This was also exciting to Jacob. Giggling, he would chase the kitty around the house and try to grab it. Eventually the kitty would give up, and complacently sit next to Jacob. Jake would get so excited that he would start flailing his arms and hit the poor animal. At this point, Michael and I would intercede and the kitty would escape. Each day, the kitty seemed to like Jacob a little less, and Jacob loved the kitty even more.

My favorite Jacob and Kitty moment happened a couple days ago. Jacob fell to sleep on the way home from picking up Hyrum from preschool. If I move him, he wakes up, so I just kept the van and garage doors open and worked in the kitchen and laundry room, checking on him regularly. When Alden and Thobe got home from school, I asked Alden to check on Jacob. He came running in the house, yelling, "Mom, Mom, you've got to come see this. It's so cute!!!" I asked him, while I ran down the stairs, what was going on. He said that when he peeked into the van, the kitty was contently sitting on Jacob's lap, and Jacob was petting the kitty with a big smile on his face. He really loves that cat.

The best news about this story is that the kitty now belongs to Michael's parents. We kept putting the kitty outside and leaving the garage door open so it could go back home, but he kept coming back. Michael's parents have been wanting a cat, so we took him up to them. I have to admit that life with the kitty wasn't blissful. Since he did like to snuggle so much, I would often find myself petting him and then would touch my eyes. This would make my eyes so itchy and me so sneezy. I didn't love that. Also unlike our kitty Priscilla, this cat was not house trained and left more than one "treasure" for us to clean up. The amount of human discretion that I have had to deal with has dramatically decreased in the last few months, so I wasn't at all interested in having cat pooh and pee replace that void.

We can go to Toledo when Jacob needs his kitty fix, and I imagine that Michael's parents will be far better at house training a cat that I am--I am convinced that I am the worst potty trainer in the world.

Jumpin' Up & Down With All His Might

I find personality tests fascinating. I have talked at length with my sister-in-law about the color personality test that classifies people into blue, white, red, and yellow categories. At this point in their lives, I would say that each of my children falls into each category. 

For example, Alden is undoubtedly blue. He is extremely loyal and true to his friends, his family, and the Gospel. He is driven by doing something simply because it is the right thing to do. He is extremely compassionate and forgiving and caring about other people. 

Thobe is white. He is extremely laid back and not easily upset by little things. He takes life as it comes to him and rarely complains. He wants things to be fair and peaceful. I always have to be aware of Thobe's requests. If he asks me to do something, and I forget, he never badgers me like his brothers do. He just contently waits, sometimes for hours. 

Hyrum is red. He loves to be in charge. He is always bossing all of us around. He tells us what to say when we talk to him and doesn't like us to tell him what to do. Potty training has been an adventure with Hyrum simply because if it's not his idea to use the bathroom, he doesn't want to do it. He's made a lot of progress though, and is now 90% potty trainied--we just have to get him to stop doing what he's doing and go to the bathroom when he needs to go.

Jacob is undoubtedly yellow. I've never seen a one year old who is more motivated by just having fun. He loves to laugh and giggle and just have a good time. When we are in church he loves to just play, especially because he's in such close proximity to his brothers. He is constantly trying to tickle them or do something silly to make them laugh. If we are in a restaurant (and he's not eating--he loves to eat too), he likes to be silly there and again play with his brothers (it has gotten so bad that Michael has told me he never wants to take the kids to a restaurant again). Jake loves to be "the baby battering ram." This is something that Michael came up with where he chases the other boys around the house with Jacob as his weapon and runs into them with Jacob's head. Jacob LOVES this. He'll tug on Michael and say, "Ram, Ram?" He loves to play with toys and will play for hours on end with toy cars. He hates being tied down, which makes diaper changing next to impossible. Whenever Michael changes his diaper, he always asks me, "How do you do this? He's moving around like crazy!" Jacob dislikes bedtime very much because he knows it's the end of his playing for the day. Last night, Michael was watching basketball and just let Jacob play nearby. Jacob decided he wanted to play in the Jumperoo (I still haven't put it away), and climbed on in. Michael heard continuous jumping for a long time, and then noticed that it stopped. He looked over at Jacob and found him in this situation below (one leg in the jumper and one leg out). He'd been jumping on 1 leg for who knows how long having the time of his life. Apparently, he eventually just ran out of gas. I love that little guy.

Notice his legs--one leg out, one leg in.

The Preschool Passoff

Starting Monday, Hyrum will go to a new preschool. Since September he has been attending Marimor preschool as a typically developing student (Marimor is a wonderful institution in our area that services children with special needs--they have a great preschool where they invite typical students to be apart of their classroom). Anyway, Hyrum has done well there. He knows all of his alphabet (with minimal help from me unfortunately), he loves talking about the days of the week ("What's today, Mom?" he always asks--although if it's evening and you say it's Friday, he'll say, "No, today is tonight; it's not Friday), and he loves writing the letter H. He would also love to write the rest of his name, but unfortunately, his hand shakes. He has been diagnosed as having familial tremors. We have been told not to make an issue of it so that he won't become self-conscious, but it does affect how he is able to write and do fine motor tasks. So, on his teacher's recommendation, we had Hyrum tested and got him qualified for some occupational therapy (I think both of my older boys would have benefited from this, and they don't have any tremors). The bad thing is that because he will receive services, he no longer qualifies as a typical student and will now have to attend a different school. The new place that he will go to is just around the corner and is a very good program, so we're excited, but it is a little sad to move on so suddenly.

Because of this change, I have to write my favorite memory of Hyrum being at Marimor. One day I went to pick Hyrum up from school, and his teacher said, "Hyrum really loves you." I was happy that she felt that way and asked why she said that. She said that day he was just sitting at the table waiting for me to come and pick him up and said, "I love my mom. My mom is my girl." 

I love being my Hyrum's girl.

She Loves Me, I Love Her Not

We've had some really interesting conversations at meal time lately. Michael, of course, has all sorts of silly questions for the boys, which lead to lots of silly what ifs? "What would you do Alden starting roaring like a lion?" "What would you do if Thobe started growing leaves on his head?" "What would you do if Hyrum grew fins on his hands?" The boys, because they are Michael's sons, always come up with some silly answers and additional questions, which usually raises the volume about 36 notches, and we have mass pandemonium for the rest of dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but our family keeps the din in dinner almost without exception.

Last night our conversation was one unlike we've ever had. Michael started asking Alden if he thought any of the girls in his class at church or at school were pretty. Alden of course gave his diplomatic answer that he always gives about girls, "None of them are pretty; none of them are ugly," and then blushed and tried to change the subject. 

But Michael being Michael couldn't leave it at that. He then said, "Alden, do you think any of the girls that you know like you?"

"No," Alden said in a disgusted tone.

"What would you do if they did like you?"

"I'd throw up."

Thobe was listening to all this with peaked interested. I noticed and asked, "Thobe, do you think the girls in your class like you?" To which, he confidently responded, "Yes, I know they do." We asked him if he knew who liked him, and he told us that he knows one person for sure. "Who is it?" we asked.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret, but her first name starts with a 'C' and her last name starts with a 'B.'"

"How do you know she likes you?"

"Well," he smiled, "she always helps me finish my work, if my shoe comes untied, she ties it for me, she sits by me in class, and she always says nice things to me, but .....I don't play with her at recess because I don't have time for her."

"Do you think she is pretty, Thobe?"

"Yes, she is very pretty," he said matter of factly.

"Well," concluded Alden while rolling his eyes, "she's probably just being nice to you."

I have to say though that if I were in kindergarten, I would be in love with Thobe and those dark eyes. He's pretty handsome if you ask me.

Alden's Baptism

Yes...I'm way behind on my blogging. I've had a very busy summer, which I will write a post about here shortly...hopefully. But in the mean time, I want to make sure I blog about a very significant event that happened on July 3, 2010, in the life of our family--Alden was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (By the way, I wrote some of this back in August).

About a year prior to Alden's baptism, we discussed with him where we might do his baptism. Knowing that most of our family that are members of the church live in Utah, we thought it might be nice to have his baptism in Utah. When we asked him about it and told him that we didn't know if all our family would be able to be there if we had it in Ohio, he said, "I think I'd like to do it Ohio because if my friends see me get baptized, maybe they'll want to get baptized too." So, Michael, Alden, and I began planning his baptism for Ohio, and all our family out in Utah began planning their trip to Ohio to see him get baptized.

From a mom's perspective, I have to say that Alden is undoubtedly one of the most incredible kids I've ever met. I don't know of a boy that is more eager to please than he is. He loves to please Michael and me and he loves to please God. I really felt like his decision to be baptized was his decision was one that he took very seriously. I am so amazed with Alden and feel so thankful that he's my son. I really wanted it to be special day for him, and I really felt like it was.

All my family was there. All of Michael's family was there, including one of his uncles and several of Michael's cousins. We also had a lot of close friends who came as well. When Alden's baptism started, I sat up by Michael and Alden and looked out at the crowd of people who were in attendance. I thought, "Wow, this is what heaven must be like." It was so wonderful to be surrounded by so many people that have had a significant influence in our lives. I hope that all of us can be together in heaven someday.

Alden's baptism program went without a hitch. My mom spoke on baptism, and Michael's mom spoke on the Holy Ghost. Both talks were touching and poignant. My mom shared the story of breaking her leg a few weeks before Alden's baptism. She was so worried that she wouldn't be able to come out for his baptism because the doctor said that she might have to have surgery. At the beginning of June, Alden fasted and prayed that his Grandma's leg would heal so that she could come to his baptism. The Tuesday after his fast, my mom went in to the doctor, and he said that her leg had healed enough that she would not need surgery. What a miracle!

Alden was then baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost following the baptism.

I'm so grateful that Alden is my son and that he made this choice to be baptized. What a blessing it is to our family.

I am posting the video that we showed at Alden's baptism. It was a letter that I wrote to Alden that summarized the first eight years of his life and explains why we get baptized in our church.

You can see this video by clicking on the following link:
Alden's Baptism Video

Wow!

So here I am posting. I really, really, REALLY want to do a better job with this. My sisters, Mom, and I started a weight loss challenge over a year ago and used a blog to keep track of how we were doing and where we were. It was great for me. I lost all my baby weight and a little more (unfortunately, I've gained a good 10 pounds back, but I'm working on that), but whenever I had a minute to blog, I would usually blog there instead of here. When we wrapped all that up, I thought, "Oh...I need to write about Alden's baptism, our trip to Utah, how Jacob has grown, the crazy things that Hyrum has done, how smart Thobe is, that I just felt overwhelmed. I also am still adjusting to that 4th child, was recently called as our ward's Primary president, and am trying to keep up with all the new things my kids are doing, so I just haven't blogged. Every Sunday I think I'll do it, and I just don't (a three hour nap is much more appealing). Anyway, I should be cleaning my kitchen now, but I just wanted to promise myself that I'm going to do better. I hope that I'll be able to catch up, but if I can't, I'll start from today. My kids are growing before my eyes, they are saying and doing amazing things, and I'm frustrated with myself that these moments will be forgotten if I don't write them down. So I'm going to do better. Hopefully new posts will once again freckle my blog.