MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS

- CJ loves to sing, if we haven't already mentioned it. Even though he gets shy while he's there, he absolutely LOVES his Wednesday morning music class. Our Stake Primary President, Cheryl Shirley, is an amazing woman with so much musical talent and we are so grateful that she gives so selflessly of her time to offer kinder-music classes for free! We're SO going to miss it!! Anyway, lately CJ's been singing Old McDonald, but instead of "Old McDonald had a farm," CJ's version goes, "Old McFarmy had a cow (or sheep or chicken)" :). We love it! He also loves to sing songs about his family: Gramma, Papa, Kelsey, Courtney, Kenya, Mattie, Mommy, Daddy, etc., usually to the tune of Jingle Bells or Twinkle Little Star. American Idol, here we come!

- I made Bryce watch New Moon with me last week. He liked it. 'Nough said.

- Speaking of movies, CJ not only loves Toy Story (1 and 2), but he also loves Ratatouille. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that CJ loves to cook. Maybe in a few years, he can take over making dinner...

- CJ's new thing is to say, "What, Mommy? What? What?" If I ask him what he's doing, simply say his name, or take something away from him without even saying a word, I hear "what? what, Mommy? what?"

- Mattie has started immitating everything we do. Not only does she comb her hair, brush her teeth, drink through a straw, use a spoon, wash her hands, and clasp her hands together for the prayer, but now she even cleans her nose with a q-tip, while blowing it! However, she tends to pick up on not-so-great habits as well, like picking her nose (thank you very much, CJ and Daddy!).

- When I put the kids to bed, I sing You Are My Sunshine to them before laying them down. I especially enjoy singing it to Mattie because it's just our time. I cradle her like she's still the little baby we had just a year ago, and she looks up at me and smiles and gives me sweet little giggles. I cherish these moments! Bryce sings to the kids too. I think his favorite is I Feel My Savior's Love. So sweet!

- Speaking of bedtime, I was sitting with CJ as he fell asleep, and I was reflecting back on my childhood night-time routine. Some of my most fond and warm memories are of my mom singing songs with me and reading to me EVERY night. She had this old, dog-eared bookmark-sized piece of paper with a long list of children's songs on it. She would bring it into my room every night and I got to choose which songs I wanted to sing. And I remember her reading me books from nursery rhymes to Little House on the Prairie. What stands out the most to me, now that I'm a mother, is the amount of time and effort this took. My mom worked full-time, then came home and took care of a house and 6 kids (times were tough and my dad worked hard too, sometimes 3 jobs at a time), but she still found the energy to keep up this cherished routine. I have to remind myself of this on nights when I'm done, and just want to throw the kids in bed and lock the door. And what's great is that I think my kids will have similar memories of my mom too. She STILL sits and reads and sings songs with her grandkids, and they ALL love it! Thanks, Mom, for your wonderful example! I love you!

- I was doing the dishes on Friday afternoon, and Mattie was amusing herself by taking out the dishes I was rinsing and putting in the dishwasher...happens all the time. She had a baby spoon in her hand when my phone started to ring, and what did she do? Immediately put the spoon to ear like she was going to answer it! I thought it was funny.

- I've been working on catching up on the kids baby books this week. Man, I am such a procrastinator! I have a pile of notes that I've taken for over a year of little milestones and cute happenings that I want to remember and I've really been able to brush up on my typing skills as I organize them all and type them up so I can print them out. And I FINALLY got all their birth certificates, blessing certificates, hospital pictures, etc, scanned so I can get back to work on their photo/memory books. I got out their baby books as well and decided that between the printed out journal, memory books, and actual photo albums I'm doing, I don't need to do a baby book too. It's just a lot of repetition. So subsequent children, you will not be getting a baby book. Sorry. But Mommy promises that you'll have 3 other references to get all the memories you need, ok?

- Friday night was Bryce's Law Review Vesting Banquet. I realize that I need something a little more formal than church clothes to wear to some functions. Anyway, it was great to visit with friends, but Bryce couldn't help but feel like there are lots of great people that we didn't really get to know and he wished he had spent more time trying. I, on the other hand, felt like our window in Spokane closed a little more, and with each game that ends, each weekend that passes, a chapter in my life that I've really grown to love is about to end. We couldn't find a babysitter, and CJ was sick, so I wasn't even going to go, but our good friends, Becca and Levi Adams (who happen to be our neighbors too), insisted that I go. They knew CJ wasn't feeling well, so instead of having our kids come over to their house, they split up and Becca came over to be with our kids for an hour and half, and then put them to bed. Then they switched, and Levi came over and checked on the kids once in awhile while they slept and he studied until we got home. Isn't that the greatest?! They are such good friends, the best of the best, as well as a few of the others we've made here, and I'm seriously dreading leaving them all. I'm scared to death of leaving these families that I love and moving to a small town, with little to distract us from the gaping whole that will be in our lives and may not ever be filled. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to forge ahead to the next stage in our life - great things await us, I know. But the sadness that grows each day we get closer to moving is undeniable. And yet, I thank our Heavenly Father that that's what currently causes me sadness, when I KNOW there are very many more things that could break my heart. Sooo...I'll continue to prentend like it's not happening, and fight the urge to withdraw, and, how does that song go? "Put on a happy face"...

- Speaking of moving on, Bryce and I applied to have a PAPER ROUTE this week. Yup, that's right. I know: two college grads, one with a doctorate, and we're gonna be newsies? Honestly, the pays not bad - $800-$1500 a month - and the hours will be perfect for us this summer. We can do it together in the morning, before the kids get up, and before Bryce goes to his bar review class. It's a way to get some much needed income without having to sacrifice time studying for the bar or having someone babysit our kids. And we can get a little exercise and earn some cash to cover summer expenses and save for some new furniture when we move to Wenatchee (CJ needs a big boy bed so badly, but we've been waiting until we move). And apparently paper routes are not what they used to be. In my day, it was my tween-age brother riding around on his bike with his carrier stuffed with papers, front and back. Now, you have to not only be at least 18 years old, but you have to have a reliable car! So anyway, we're just waiting to hear back from the Seattle Times. Seriously, though, I'm gonna feel pretty lame if we don't get the job...

- CJ's been sick the last few days and yesterday at dinner he started whining and said, "I can't taste it!" :(

- Mattie discovered her eyelashes this week. It's quite hilarious watching her poke herself in the eye trying to touch her eyelashes. And then she pokes me in the eye trying to touch my eyelashes.

- Mattie has been sick just the last two days, and even though she hasn't had a runny nose like CJ (yet), her little nose and cheeks are bright red. It makes it look like she's been outside in 30 degree weather.

- Whenever CJ wants us to pick him up he says, "Pick you up," instead of "pick me up." He's been doing that for months now, but then on Sunday night, I was going to take him to bed and so he went to Bryce to say good night. He gave Bryce a big hug and said, "Take you up." It took us a minute to figure out what he meant, but then we finally got it: he was saying, "Take me up," because he wanted Bryce to put him to bed!

- For the last few weeks Mattie has started doing this funny little thing, especially when she's tired. She takes the palm of her hand and slides it down her face, all while scrunching up her knows and squinting her eyes. It sounds funny, but it's pretty cute. Gotta try and get a pic...

- Mattie got into the snack bag in the diaper bag today. She pulled out a little Gerber fruit strip, and to my surprise, opened it all by herself! Man, I really gotta watch her!

- I feel like I've been drowning in snot and drool this week. Oh, what moms have to do...

- Mattie got a stucker, I mean, sucker stuck in her hair today. It was only in the ends of the back of her head, so it could have been a lot worse. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am sure that we're done giving her suckers.

- Mattie finally walked all by herself just this afternoon!! She's been walking for a couple of months now, but never wanted to let go of our hands. After working with her for just a few minutes today, she finally felt confident enough to do it...and she was cruising across the entire room just a couple of tries later! I can't believe my little baby is now walking. Guess it's time to start thinking about having another one ;)

Happy Monday!