Back to Normal

Joe was back at school this week and we all got back into our routines. The girls and I managed to survive the week, despite some difficult moments. Mostly with Natalie. Elizabeth has been doing great lately. There have been occasional lies, so we've been working on that. One actually worried me with how skillful it was.

I was upstairs showering while the girls were playing with play dough. When I came down, Elizabeth came running into the room with a guilty smile on her face. I asked her what was going on and she said, "I just love you, Mom. I just like to be with you." Since I had no proof of anything, I chose to believe the compliments (and am still choosing to believe that they contain some truth :). Later I found her showing Natalie a candy wrapper that she had hid and found out she snuck some chocolate. She is definitely moving into the stage of being able to lie without me knowing it, which is scary.

Still, despite that, she is doing great. Her prayers are wonderful lately, so thoughtful and sweet. She prays for people to make good choices and for our whole family. The other day at lunch she said, "Thank you that we can all be together, except one" (referring to Daddy).

Natalie has been having kind of a rough time lately. It's just the usual tantrums, whining and crying, but it seems to have reached a new level. Whenever I say no to her about anything, it is proceeded by loud crying and/or angry tantrums. We had a particularly hard day on Wednesday, which was unfortunately a shopping day. We went to two stores and she basically screamed and cried the whole time. Over there only being one kid-sized cart and having to take turns with Lizzie; over not getting every single item at the grocery store that she desired; over the horrible snacks I brought--no wait, I actually do want those snacks! You get the picture.

I don't really know why I'm recording this, except that it is honest. This is a part of motherhood. I think my kids are the best kids in the world, but they don't always act like it. That's really OK. I don't always act like the best mother, either. Sometimes I think that my job is to guide them to the right path, and other times I think that my job is just to not screw up and corrupt their little innocent spirits. I guess it's both.

I watched the CES devotional with President Monson the other day and I was struck during the part where he talked about how someone had done a study that determined that children at the ages of 2 and 3 are at the peak of their learning. Especially what they observe around them. Whoa, I thought. That's the exact ages of my children. That was a pretty sobering thought. I hope I am helping to fill their minds with good things and that I am being a good example. I hope I am teaching them through my words and actions that the most important thing is to admit when we've made a bad choice and to try to be a little better.

Anyway, of course, despite our struggles, there have been wonderful moments, too. Just tonight we were having fun playing Memory as a family. Elizabeth is so good at that game and really schooled us the first round. Joe fought back to win the second round. Elizabeth is all about winning lately and is always saying she won and Natalie lost, in various games she makes up. Luckily, as yet Natalie is unconcerned about this. Tonight as we were laying the cards out for the second round, Elizabeth said, "I hope I win!" Natalie then said, "I hope I lose!"

The other day I found the girls like this in the kitchen, saying they were making snow angels:

They're Californians, now. They have to improvise.

One day, Elizabeth was so excited to see Natalie wake up from her nap so they could play. I was able to catch their reunion on camera:

They begged me to make these crowns from The Friend the other day. I took these pictures of them wearing them while watching Super Why. So, in the picture they are putting their hands in to help. (If you've watched the show, you get that, if not, don't worry about it. :)
Absorbed in the show

Another thing I wanted to mention is that a goal of mine for the New Year is to eat healthier. Nothing drastic, I'm just trying to get more whole grains into our diet and give more attention to fruits and vegetables in our meals. So far it's been great! It feels good. The girls are definitely on board. I gave them quesadillas with whole wheat tortillas the other day and they didn't even notice. That helps a lot. I got a new healthy cookbook for Christmas and have made some great new meals that we all liked. It helps that I bought a gigantic bag of spinach at Costco that we're trying to use before it goes bad, too.

I've decided I actually love Trader Joe's. I always thought it was some elitist, overpriced health food store but a lot of the food was actually pretty cheap. We got a huge thing of blueberries for cheaper than they would have been on sale at a normal store, and they are lasting and not going bad right away. They had samples of food and balloons, which are both great for the kids. I'm a believer.

OK, this post has gone on enough. Life is good. :)