my singing boys

Last week for stake conference, as some of you know, the Primary kids provided the music. While planning this Rachel suggested that Samuel sing one of the solo lines in "I Feel My Savior's Love." At first I thought she was crazy (sorry Rache, but I did) and then I figured heck, why not, might as well start him early and at least he isn't shy. Anyone who has seen Samuel give a talk in Primary knows that!
Anyway, Samuel agreed to sing as long as his friend Alyssa (her name is always said in reverent tones at our house-Samuel adores her!) would sing with him. Alyssa agreed, much to her mom's surprise, and I began teaching the song to Samuel. As with everything else, James started learning right along with his big brother.
To make a long story short Samuel sang and did a great job and was thrilled by the whole experience. Phew! However, there was an unforseen benefit that resulted from this opportunity. Samuel and James now have a verse of "I Feel My Savior's Love" committed to memory and periodically, spontaneously burst into song. I can't tell you how stinkin' cute it is to hear my boys sing this song together in their little voices. I love it! It makes my heart happy.

the big 10

Last night I caught the first half hour of ABC's Nightline news program. They are doing a series on the 10 commandments and whether or not the commandments are still relevant today. Are you shaking your head wondering if they are thinking straight? I was too! Especially when they began the topic for the day: Commandment #7 (I think) -Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.

They had a panel of 4 "experts": 1) A woman with an "open marriage" who has a husband, a 12 year old daughter and a girlfriend, 2) A man who professes to be faithfully married (with 2 daughters) but who runs a website to help people commit adultery- and yes, he advertises but no, he said it is not OK if his wife were to commit adultery but has no problem helping other people wreck their lives, 3) A priest of some Christian religion, and 4) a former sexaholic who is now reformed and somewhat religious.
Panelists 1&2 were arguing that adultery is healthy for marriage because... well, I couldn't really say why they thought it was, they just figured that it was going to happen anyway so by having an "open marriage" or by embracing adultery openly it removes so many of the bad feelings surrounding it like, uh, guilt. They said it makes marriages healthier and is actually better for the children, too.
The priest was as dumbfounded by this reasoning as I am. He refuted panelist #1's claims that we have made marriage too strict and ideal- what with the whole fidelity thing and all (I am sadly not exaggerating this conversation). People did not "make" marriage, God did. He went on to say, despite shock from panelist #1, that he holds everyone to the same standard not just people who share his religion. The temerity of the man to hold everyone to values that were established thousands of years ago, by God nonetheless! Even if you are not religious, you would think that if you love someone enough to marry them, you would not want to hurt them so cruelly. After all, marriage is not just about love it is about trust and respect- as my mother the therapist always says. Actually John and I have an agreement if one of us ever cheats, the other is authorized to kill them. Maybe they should add that to the marriage vows.
Basically the argument of #1&2 was that times have changed so the concept of marriage should change with it. Panelists 3&4 held that adultery hurts marriages and all the people involved, especially the children. I turned it off in disgust before the Nightline Moderator drew any conclusions and decided to abolish commandment #7.
My conclusion: whoever came up with the idea to make the 10 commandments debatable should be shot- along with panelists 1 and 2. Next I am sure they will be debating about the whole Thou Shall Not Kill thing. Heck, it happens all the time, might as well embrace it!

Mommies Beware

This is a warning for all of my mommy friends out there. I was in Gymboree on Saturday in the Springfield Mall when my wallet was stolen. It was in the diaper bag in the basket under my stroller. I put my wallet away after paying for a purchase, turned around to talk to the sales clerk and check on Matthew and when I turned back it was gone. I was an especially easy target because I was clearly distracted by my kids since Matthew was screaming and all. There were no teenagers or males (besides my 3 kids) in the store. That means it was an adult woman who took it. She didn't loose time using it either. Within 10 minutes I had a phone call from Capital One about possible fraudulent charges on my card. Between my debit card and one credit card she racked up almost $2000 worth of merchandise.
Please, be careful and keep your wallet hidden really well or in your hand. This only took a second and even though I am not liable for the charges made, it is a huge hassle replacing my credit and bank cards, my insurance cards, my temple recommend, my BJs card and all of the other stuff I carried around with me on a daily basis.
FYI while I was reporting this to the police I was told that Panara Bread is another place where a lot of robbery takes place. Women often sling their purses on the back of their chairs and the thief is able to casually reach in and take credit cards and replace the wallet so you don't even realize you are missing anything until the next time you go to the store.

James' first day of preschool

So Wednesday was James' first day of preschool. We put Samuel on the bus to school and then John came with me to drop James off. We were expecting a full out screaming fit or at least copious tears. What we got instead was a quick hug and then he was off playing with toys. He even said hello to his teacher without hiding behind me or a piece of furniture! Has James been possessed? No, I think he was just READY!

Before School

After School

And here is just a quick picture of Matthew who is officially six weeks old today. Wow!

And one more pic, just because it is too cute. So serious already!

status report

So here is how we are really doing...

Samuel is not so sure he likes school. He is having a really hard time being gone all day. He comes home tired and grumpy and fights with James until bed time. Today was better, but he doesn't LOVE school this year the way he did instantly last year. Sam is also having a bit of a hard time with me. He is a little resentful of me since I had the baby. I would love any suggestions of how to win back the love of my six year old.

James is excited to start school on Wednesday. He is enjoying that he gets more time with me at home without Samuel to claim my attention. However, when Samuel gets home James gets grumpy too. I have been tempted to put both of them to bed at 5pm every day for the last week. The good side? James is starting to like Matthew and will periodically kiss him or pat him on the head. We are making progress!!

Matthew is growing like a weed, I am guessing he is on his way to 13 lbs now. He has had a little bit of a fussy week. He has had an upset tummy for the past few days. It is so sad!

John is trying to juggle work, church stuff and coaching two soccer teams. This weekend was hilarious. John coached Samuel's game, ran right off the field as soon as it was over and raced to another field to coach James' game which had already started. He does a great job with the kids and the boys love having daddy be their coach but I don't know how well this is going to work out. It is going to be crazy at the very least.

As for me, I am feeling pretty good. We have almost reached the six week post delivery date and I am looking forward to hitting the gym and working off the rest of the baby weight. I feel better emotionally and physically than I have in a really long time. I am excited for James to start school. I think he is going to love it- after the first few days spent in tears, of course. In addition to keeping up with the boys (all four of them) I have started to hit the busy time of year for my calling at church. I think my next post will be a full out rant about that so that is all I will say about it for now. I need to remember to breathe.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Is it just me or are people in general a lot less respectful of everything and everyone these days? Last night I was watching the BBC version of Persuasion. Ok, granted it is a Jane Austen novel so not exactly historically accurate, but still, once upon a time people had spoken politely to each other even when they would rather punch each other in the face. I actually kind of like that they addressed each other as Mr., Mrs., Sir, Lady, Captain, etc. I actually have friends that insist that their children address all of the adults they encounter as Mr. and Mrs. I have always been less fromal about that sort of thing but now I am starting to rethink my approach. By teaching our kids to speak respectfully maybe it will rub off on their behavior and maybe even their friends' behavior...or maybe not.
So what brought this up? The congressman who yelled at the President of the United States in the middle of his televized speech. Seriously? Did his mother never teach him 1) it is rude to call people names and 2) it is rude to interrupt when someone else is talking?! You would think that a man who holds a public office would at least have some concept of manners. I guess maybe I am old fashioned.

lots of firsts

This week has brought a lot of firsts for our family.

On Monday Matthew was officially one month old. A first for him! We took him to the doctor's office for a weight check. He is a hefty 11 lbs 5 oz!!!

On Tuesday Samuel had his first day of First Grade. We took him to the bus stop as a family to see him off. He was super nervous. About an hour after school had started I had an uncontrollable urge to go to the school and peek through the windows to see how he was doing. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of dragging Matthew and James along. We walked down to the bus stop to wait for Sam to get home but when the bus arrived only two kids got off neither of whom I recognized. I walked up to the now closed doors of the bus with a really confused look on my face and the driver opened the door laughing. Samuel hadn't realized it was his stop! He was sitting with his friend Megan and was totally oblivious to what was going on around him. Typical Samuel. The first day was a smashing success in his book.

Tuesday was also James' first day of soccer. For two years he has been watching from the sidelines as Samuel played. He has been dying for it to be his turn and finally, today, it was. Other than a little breakdown (tears and all because the ball he was playing with went flat and John took it away) he loved it! His first game will be on Saturday. I love watching kids this age play soccer!

Friday Samuel has his first soccer practice of the season and his first game will be Saturday as well.

Matthew's Blessing Day

We blessed Matthew today in church. Last night John had made a joke about how he was going to lose track of time in his stake meetings and forget to come to sacrament meeting for the blessing. This morning as it hit 9:00 and Bishop Moffat got up to start the meeting, John wasn't there. I actually did have to go and get him from the clerk's office. Good thing I knew where he was!

Anyway, John did a great job with the blessing. Amid all of the usual things, John blessed Matthew with an abundance of love and with the desire to heed the council of his priesthood leaders. It was pretty cool! John, his dad, Gavin, Dwane, Tyler, our friend Marshall and Brother Hedberg from the bishopric were in the blessing circle.

It was a beautiful day!

just ducky

Mom and Dwane are out this weekend for Matthew's Blessing (9am at the Broomall Building if anyone wants to come) and for some fun we went on the duck tour (complete with quackers) through Philadelphia. It was actually really fun! The boys loved it as much as the adults did and our tour guide, Jack, was hilarious. He had theme music for every historical site or bend in the road. He started out with the Rocky theme and ended with YMCA and the Looney Toons music "That's All Folks". Too funny! He also interspersed quacky jokes throughout his historical monologue. His best: "Why don't they serve cheesesteak sandwiches at McDonalds? Because it would be a McSteak!" We quacked at him for that one!

Seriously, if you are looking for something fun to do in the city, this is a good idea. A little pricey but worth the money. Just ask for Jack.

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband

I have the best husband.

Happy Birthday John!