Butt Buster

I have great concerns over the sanity of my child. I'm concerned that she doesn't have the correct pain sensors or fear emotions. Last night, as we are all winding down for the night, she decides to jump and land on her bum. Now, a normal kid does this on a cushioned surface...you know, like the sofa or the bed. Not Emily! She jumps into the air, kicks her feet out and lands on the FLOOR on her bum. She starts wailing as the impact hurt her head...because she completely jarred her brain!!! She lets me console her for a minute before getting up and...doing the same thing!!! Is she crazy? I seriously was concerned that she'd jar something in her brain and cause a seizure or something!

On Her Own

WHOOOPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
I'm sorry if I'm so excited, but after two weeks of Emily protesting potty training, we have a celebration!! Emily was doing the potty dance (I've never actually seen her do this before, so now at least I have a sign) and I kept complaining to her about how going in your pants was "yucky-stinky". Well, she marched herself to the bathroom and closed the door. I had to slip my hand in to turn on the light for her. A few minutes later, Emily came out, absolutely naked, but she had gone both in the potty!! WU-WHooo!
I made a REALLY, REALLY big deal about it. I'm not that kind of personality, so it really made a difference for Emily to see how excited it made me.
On a side note, one of the things that made Emily a little anti-potty was the fact that one morning she told me she needed to go and I put her on our toilet w/o her child seat. She got mad at me for something and started swinging. Into the toilet she slipped! I was afraid it was going to create a potty fear, but if she went by herself today, I think we're in the clear!!

Reverence Is Love

Do you remember this song from Primary? "Reverence is more than just quietly sitting: It's thinking of Father above, A feeling I get when I think of his blessings. I'm reverent, for reverence is love. When I'm reverent it shows in my words and my deeds. The pathway to follow is clear. And when I am reverent, I know in my heart Heavenly Father and Jesus are near."
Well, to put this as short and, though not sweet, as unoffensive as possible, some people really need to learn the definition of "reverence" and also need to re-evaluate how a child learns to be reverent. We've discovered that our area has a zero tolerance of children learning this skill. You squeak, you're outta there! So, we actually left Stake Conference after the first hour as there was not really a place to correct Emily as they kept the foyer doors open throughout the meeting and another individual made it his duty to shush our child even as Eric was attempting to do so.
Therefore, I must say that this individual and those others who shot looks at the SMALL noises (yes, Emily made noise, but an adult has the choice to ignore it and pay attention to the speaker rather than turn around and make faces of disgust at a normal noise level of a child who IS showing as much "reverence" as she understands) are NOT showing reverence, as "reverence is love".
And, dang it! Emily was so cute in her strawberry shirt outfit her Mema bought her while they were down visiting last month! It went perfectly with her Dorothy red slippers Stef got her to use for her Halloween outfit last October! Ah, c'est la vie!

We Have Grass!!!

We ordered grass back at the beginning of April but it didn't arrive until the end of May. We planted a spot (it takes a long time when you have to re-soil an area due to the cement-quality clay) one day and that area already has grass. As advertised, it did sprout in the 5-8 day span. We now have high hopes for the other areas we have seeded. Next year we will probably order from the same company and finish seeding the lawn. AH, to have an entire piece of property with beautiful, lush green grass!!!
I'll be happy this year if the second area we planted comes in and comes in well. It's the shady part of our yard, so Emily and I can enjoy the outdoors. Currently it is completely bare, so grass instead of clay-dirt will be lovely.

All In the Details

So, it's the morning after a severe frustration. I won't go into details, but someone informed me that a certain situation wasn't going to work out and that I needed to find another solution. So, I spent all afternoon and evening making phone calls to try to work out something else. Seriously, I called numbers and left messages all over the place from 3pm until 9pm. Since no one called me back, I returned the first phone call to inform said individual. After I explained all the lengths I had gone to, I was then given the real story and there was no need to go to all that stress and strain to begin with. My original plan was perfectly fine, but someone else thought they knew better. I just wish people would trust me, respect me, and give me the benefit of the doubt that I really am doing my best, and my best is going to be okay. That's all the Lord requires, so why can't man?

Stranger Danger

I just got an email from a friend about a child being abducted at Sam's. I checked Snopes out and it was a false story. Still, I don't feel we should overlook the warning. Urban legends, myths, and other folklore have a real place in our society. Those stories are there, yes, to frighten us a little, but more importantly, to impress upon us the diligence we need to be facing life with. We need to be aware of our surroundings at all times and makes sure we don't become lackadaisical in our supervision of our children.
I thought I should share a recent experience of my own to illustrate. About a month ago, I was supposed to be going to visit Daisey in Connecticut. I was really excited about the trip and all. It was just going to be Emily and myself going: Eric had to work. Well, I kept having these dreams/visions/thoughts that Emily was going to end up missing/dead. I saw in clear detail the place this would happen. I promptly canceled my trip and felt a wonderful peace of mind after making that decision. Now, I don't know if Emily really would have ended up missing, hurt, or dead. However, I do know that I followed a prompting and received peace as a reward when I heeded that prompting. As parents, we are entitled to those and should act upon them. However, we also shouldn't just rely on them. We should be careful in all of our doings. Emily could go missing just as easily here, so I've taken it as a constant: be aware at all times where your daughter is.
Hope that might help someone.

90-degree Turns

The last time I drove a big van was when I worked out in Cali. I was able to renew those driving skills as I got to drive Big Bertha (my name for the 15-passenger van borrowed from the ever-generous Peacock family) yesterday to deliver our young campers to the FDR State Park to enjoy their week of Girls' Camp. I was given the warning to kind of drive like a grandma as taking turns too quickly could basically rip the end of the van off. So, easy-goes it.
I'm not sure how long it took us to get up to camp, but nothing was aided by the route we took. We had several 90-degree turns to make getting on the appropriate highways...or rather to stay on the 116.
After dropping off said girls to their respective sites (not to mention actually FINDING the site was a chore in itself since no one thought to give further direction), Stef and I found a place to eat and then headed home...on a different route. An hour and a-half later, we arrived home. Much more direct and none of the crazy hairpin turns. Of course, we realized that had we just skipped the direction to get on the 116 and continued laughing about "Buttsmell Farm" (aka Butts Mill Farm), we would have discovered the faster route on the way up instead of the way back. Unbeknownst to us, the 41 (which we were on until we took the 116) connected directly with the road taking us into camp...with signs, to boot!!
At least we figured it out before we had to go back and pick up the girls...except upon discovering that another individual had to borrow the Peacock's other large van, I DON'T have to make that trip again this week. Darn! And I was so looking forward to a quicker trip! =P