Fertile Gnomes...

Friday was our Halloween festivities at our school. The children look forward to the Halloween parade and each class has a class party full of games, crafts and festivities. This year our family dressed up as garden gnomes. Of course our boys were not content with being your average every day garden gnome variety they had to infuse some super hero elements into their characters to make them more desirable. On our way to school this is what I heard as they discussed their gnome status..."when I rub my magic mushroom (appliqued on their vests) I can command lava!"..."when I rub my mushroom I can command the sky!"...Well, you get the picture.
Then the boys decided that they each needed to have "gnome names" and they had to be cool. G-man said "I'm going to be Digger, cause I love to dig!". Seichi proclaimed that he was going to be called "Shroom" after mu-shroom. S-dog exclaimed "I love lightning!" so we decided his name would be "Zinger". Then Biel chimed in "I'll be called Fertile!" My head spun around to look at him and maintain the car safely on the road at the same time...so shocked by his statement was I. I tried to maintain my cool by calmly asking "really honey why is that?" He replied "you know Fertile is short for fertilizer, get it?" I retorted "it's also short for fertility which means that you can make a lot of babies". His eyes grew wide as he replied "Oh no, I certainly don't want to be doing that!" We laughed so hard, it felt almost healing to share that kind of a belly laugh with my child and create a fun inside joke. Then we focused our efforts on coming up with a cool gnome name for him, finally settling on "Oakey" as in oak tree. We thought it to be a solid, respectable, masculine gnome name. After we finished Biel piped up "wow that certainly took a long time just to come up with one gnome name for me, imagine if I had to come up with a name for each of the gnome babies I would have had!" We laughed even harder. What a funny dude!

This morning we went to a "trunk or treat" with all our friends from church, the boys had so much fun going from car to car collecting treats and visiting with their friends. Afterwards on our way home I whined about how empty our fridge was and how I really didn't want to go grocery shopping. Handsome hubby suggested we all go to Costco together as a family in our gnome costumes. I NEVER thought I would hear my husband make that sort of suggestion. He even wore HIS costume! We went to Costco and boy did heads turn and a lot of smiles. I couldn't help feel that we were cheering up some people's day with our crazy antics. We had many comments too..."nice costumes I love your elf costumes!"...actually we are garden gnomes. "I love your smurf costumes"...actually we are garden gnomes. "I love your Santa costumes"...actually we are garden gnomes. "I love your seven dwarf costumes"....PEOPLE WE ARE GARDEN GNOMES!!!!  All in all it was a lot of fun!

How are male brains wired?

So this is a question that continues to intrigue me being surrounded by so many males in my life. I was listening to an audio book earlier this week that talked about that In Utero there is a fluid that goes through the womb around 13 weeks and that if the baby is female this fluid doesn't affect them but if they are male then it actually kills off a part of their brain (kind of makes me chuckle the jokes that come to mind!) and thus creates the males to be predominantly left brained and the females predominantly right brained. Now, I haven't had time to verify this information and I don't really know if its true or not but I thought it was as good an explanation as any.

I have visions of sitting around the dinner table involved in deep, meaningful conversations with my boys and handsome hubby and once in a blue moon this occurs but more often than not this is what happens...

After a blessing on the food we start eating and one of the boys (usually my second or third born) starts talking about a book that they have all read, or a joke they have all heard before or a cartoon or movie that they have all seen and one son starts quoting it. Then another son interjects and corrects the previous son making sure that the quote is verbatim. Then all the boys start talking over top of each other to have their turn to continue adding additional quotes from the "said" movie, book or joke.

I am continually amazed but the endless enjoyment that they all seem to get out of this mundane exercise and even more amazed at the accuracy with which they can quote book, movies, etc. that I too have seen with them! Often I sit there racking my brain trying to figure out what scene they are talking about. I have observed the same thing with handsome hubby and his brothers quoting childhood memories or movies they have seen together as children with mind boggling accuracy. As a result I have chalked it up to the way that the male brain is wired and I will not even attempt to compete in this arena.


This evening over steaming bowls of white bean chilli, the chosen quotes came from the movie "Hercules" that the boys find supremely hilarious or (i-larioust as S-dog says). S-dog in attempting to keep up with his older brothers tried to quote something that is said in the movie by Phil the centaur and it went something like this... "remember what Phil the red hamster said?..."  We spent several minutes trying to decode what he was referring to by "red hamster". When we realized it we all exploded in fits of laughter. I guess to a 4 year old a cartoon centaur looks a bit like a hamster...?

The Sinks Are Always Cleaner...

In our church we carry out volunteer positions. My position or "calling" is that of the stake primary music coordinator, which is a fancy way of saying that I am in charge of all the music for the children and train the music leaders on how to conduct or teach the music to the little ones. I have had this calling for over 2 years now and I really like it.
Last night we had an auxiliary training meeting for all the primary presidencies and their music leaders. It was to be a brainstorming session where the leaders could get ideas from each other to spark new creativity. At the beginning of the brainstorming session I was to teach the new song for 2011-2012 to all the leaders, I was also in charge of decorations and making some of the refreshments. I was quite stressed about the song in particular...I love to sing but I don't love doing solos, especially when they aren't written for altos (which undoubtedly I am). I just feel so vulnerable standing there...all eyes on me...everyone waiting for the virtuoso songbird only to hear a squawking crow of a singer. I really struggled with trying to get some direction as to how the song should be presented?, what did the teachers need to hear?, what tools/ideas could I provide them to make their jobs easier? I finally settled on painting a large earth and discussing with the teachers different opportunities that we have when we come to earth and what help does God provide us. We came up with the symbols or drawings together for each part of the verse and stuck them on the earth (since the song begins "I came to earth...."). It went well, and despite my shaking I got through it. In retrospect I can see that my prayers were answered and I got the direction I was looking for and was able to keep it simple but effective. It's nice to know that you aren't all alone, even when you feel like you are sometimes.

After teaching the song I sat with the music leaders in the brainstorming session. After about 5 minutes into the  session my friend Emigen started packing up her baby getting ready to leave. I said to her "are you leaving?", she told me her husband had a meeting in 10 min and she had to get home to her other 4 little ones. I told her "I'll go watch your kiddos and you stay for the meeting". Normally, my dear Emigen would never take me up on the offer. She is one of the most amazing mothers, homemakers I know. She is such a constant inspiration to me...not because her house is always spotless and exquisitely decorated but because its not and she is ok with that. I admire her frugality and organizational skills. Her home is welcoming and charming and modest and I feel at home there. She doesn't put on heirs or pretension trying to be someone she is not. She is very adept at balancing her 5 little ones and making sure that their needs, and nutrition come first. She spends hours and hours reading to them and teaching them and creating with them...paint, clay, markers, crayons etc. She is a darling mother and as a result of her vigilance and care her kids are so well behaved, loving, kind, creative and fantastic readers!
Much to my surprise she took me up on the offer and I headed over to her house. I helped the kids with their homework while stacking the dishwasher and cleaning up from supper. The older kids got their baths finished up and I read to the younger ones. I got teeth brushed and prayers said and tucked them all into bed. I noticed a bounce in my step and excitement in my voice being able to take care of these darling children knowing that my dear friend would be coming home to less worry, less mess and might be able to enjoy her evening a little more if I worked a little harder. Why is it so much more fun to clean someone else's home than your own?? Suddenly a peace came to me and I felt closer to my Savior than I had in a long time.. so grateful to have had the precious opportunity of time dedicated to worrying about someone else and not just my little space.

11 going on 16...

I had a friend once tell me that boys and girls open up to their parents in different ways and that boys tend to open up if they are side by side (as opposed to facing you) which is most easily done in the car. I have tried this out multiple times with my 11 year old Biel.
I have found that often he just starts talking about things that I would not have asked him about on his own only if he is sitting next to me in the car. So the theme this week is...girls! Towards the end of the year last year was the first time he actually noticed girls even exist. He had a very tiny "crush" on a girl in his class. When I asked him why he sort of fancied her he responded "because she knows when its time to be silly and when its time to be serious and she always stays on task!". This comment somehow comforted me and made me chuckle.
Today however...he confessed that he sort of liked a different girl (she has had her eye on him since 1st grade and makes no quams about letting him know...forward girls sort of make me nervous). I asked him why he fancied her and he said "because she's really cute, she is smart, she is kind to others, she's funny and she's liked me since 1st grade so that kind of makes a difference cause at least I know that she knows that I exist." Then what he said next sort of caught me by surprize..."Mom I know your just dying to get every detail out of me and I know that in your head right now your thinking 'Ahhhhh my boy is growing up' but it will be ok Mom". He's right...it does freak me out that we will be donning a new chapter of life and that hormones will kick in even more. I'm sure that I don't really know what I'm in for and that is a scares me to death.

Halo Debyla

Handsome hubby has been teaching himself how to play the ukelele. He is pretty amazing for not only being self taught but also for having been playing for only a couple of months. Recently he has been teaching himself how to play "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. He makes my heart swoon when he plays it with his amazing voice, he really is so talented.
On Saturday we drove to Provo to attend some BYU Homecoming festivities and on the way there we listened to some music in the car one of the songs was "Hey There Delilah". Seichi questioned "What does halo ledyla mean?" to which G-man responded with an irritated tone in his voice "No Seichi it's not 'halo ledyla' its "Hey O Debyla!!"
Handsome hubby, Biel and I tried to squelch our giggles without much success I'm afraid.

Hawaina Family Wedding...

Last weekend we had the opportunity to have every member of handsome hubby's family in town for his sister Weechow's wedding. She is the last of all the siblings to get married and is the only girl! It was a wonderful weekend and such a treat to be able to spend some quality time with his family. I am really lucky to have married into a family full of people that I genuinely like...not just love, cause I have to "love" them but they are the kind of people I would choose to spend time with. For this I feel very fortunate.

Two brothers and their wives had never met the groom before and they were very insistent on meeting him before the wedding which I completely agree with, however, I was rather pleasantly surprised to see that even a family full of brothers still experiences some drama once in a while. The realization of this suddenly made me feel more at peace with my family and the periodic ruffled feathers that occur. We ended up going out to dinner with all the siblings and their wives/fiance to Red Robin...where all the boys love the Bonsai burger :) We had such a fun time, especially towards the end as the brothers started telling stories from their childhood...we were all in stitches and I'm sure the Red Robin staff was plotting our departure.

We had handsome hubby's brother Skela and Wiss stay with us with their 5 children. It was so wonderful to have them...what amazing house guests they were, wish they could have stayed longer. After Red Robin I was able to get all the finishing touches put on the wedding dresses for their girls and Wiss helped me by threading the elastic. I was tickled to find that the dresses I had made actually fit all their girls perfectly and looked so darn cute on them (they are precious girls). I was feeling pretty smug having completed my sewing deadline before 11pm the night before the wedding! I had visions of finishing the dresses the morning of with the men starting to lose patience with me :)

It was a wonderful wedding and we were thrilled that my babysitter did an amazing job taking care of 13 of the grandchildren (age 11 and under) and the kids were really well behaved to my amazement. It was a long day for them of waiting for the wedding, waiting for the pictures, waiting for the luncheon, waiting for the reception but all in all they were darling kids and did so well together. All 15 of them get a long so well together, what a blessing.
The day after the wedding we all went to Provo for the BYU Homecoming parade and to walk around campus (*sigh* fond memories). While we watched the parade a float with the law school students came by and one of the girls from the float yelled up to handsome hubby "HEY, your supposed to be on this float!" to which he responded "Well, I have kids I can't". I told him that next year we will gladly walk with him in the parade...no excuses :) That evening the boys all went to the BYU Homecoming football game and took the older boys too. Wiss and I convinced our sister in law Jelyse to put her boys down at our house and hang out with us. It was the best time I had had in a while we laughed and laughed and talked about parenting and spiritual things and just navigating life's troubles in general. I didn't want the evening to end and considering that between the three of us we had 8 sleeping children that remained asleep as we laughed our heads of it was a very successful night...until the men came home and ate our ice cream that is :) Spending time with the sistas was just the therapy we all needed.

Mediocrity produces good fruit...

I was rebuked in a gentle and kind fashion by my 11 year old on the way to school today. I must be honest...I needed it and deserved it. He never ceases to amaze me, the wisdom and creative inner voice that he seems to muster up effortlessly. He really is wise beyond his years (and behind his ears!).

Last night we learned about the allegory of the olive tree and discussed its meaning at Family Home Evening and this is what Biel said to me this morning..."Mom I have heard that you feel that you do everything in a mediocre way and nothing very "well". I don't know how you can say that, it simply isn't true...most moms wouldn't last a day in your shoes and you need to realize that you are doing your very best. We love you and your meals! You are "bringing forth good fruit", there is nobody that is perfect and unless you are really doing a terrible job at work/school/being a parent etc. you are still "bringing forth good fruit" because you are making an effort and your heart is in the right place.

It certainly put a new perspective on my day. I really love that kid....I think I'm going to keep him!
Completely off topic...Biel is running regionals this week in cross country. He has been getting faster and faster and has completely shocked me. Yesterday he ran a 5 min 50 sec mile! In another meet he ran two miles in 14 min 05 sec. His goal is 2 miles in under 12 min. There is no way on this green earth that I could accomplish that but it is so neat to see your child find something that he is both passionate about and excels in and might just keep him out of trouble when he becomes a teenager :) Good luck this week Biel...sure love you bud!

Funny Little Quips

Yesterday my two youngest said a couple random funny things that I don't want to forget. We were watching LDS General Conference and they were coloring quietly when suddenly Seichi exclaims: "My teacher keeps saying that we are "cute" and I just want to go up to the front of the class and correct her and say 'by the way the word you should be using is handsome!'

A couple minutes later S-dog shouts at the top of his voice while coloring an ABC animal book "I got the biggest longest duck to color! (referring to an ostrich) Seichi burst out laughing at his brother's announcement that the ostrich was a big long duck. I just love hearing my children explode into belly laughs even if it means that I missed 10 full minutes of conference while they regained their composure.

Girl Time, Psychos and Dangerous Laundry

This past weekend I had the unusual opportunity to have some serious "girl time" with some girl friends for 3 days in a row! Being surrounded by boys (and a man) all the time I forgot how much I love and periodically need the camaraderie and laughter that comes from being around women that I love. Spending time with them fill me up in a way that those with testosterone just can't despite their best efforts :) On Friday I went out for dinner and a late movie with a dear group of girls that have been my neighbors throughout the past 8 years. We laughed and laughed and it felt so good to get the debriefing on what's going on in each of their worlds and reconnect with them; we've been so out of touch with each other.

On Wednesday I went to a Women's Conference with a few of my girl friends. We took the Trax train downtown and were able to hear an amazing address by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I felt like he was speaking right to me when he spoke about "not forgetting to have patience with yourself" (which I do not do very well) and "determining the difference between a good and a foolish sacrifice" (again not so stellar at accomplishing either) and also "don't forget to be happy now" (I have so much to be thankful for that makes me happy now...need to take inventory right away). He said a lot of things that I needed to hear and had me laughing out loud at several parts in the process. Afterwards my friends and I went out for dinner and chatted and laughed. It was so therapeutic.

On Sunday I needed to attend 2 children's programs and had a meeting to attend which had to do with my volunteer position at church. Handsome hubby ended up having to take all 4 boys to church by himself while I went to attend the children's programs with a different batch of my girlfriends.

During one of the programs one 11 year old boy stood to share his favorite scripture story. He said "My favorite scripture story is of Noah and the ark. Noah told the people that God was going to send a lot of rain and he started gathering up the animals one boy and one girl animal into the ark. The people thought that Noah was psycho and didn't listen, and I have a Noah's ark tie." Children can be so pure and innocent and down right hilarious. I don't think I'll ever forget this little boy's rendition of Noah and the "psychos".

I think it was easier to go from two to three boys or three to four boys than it was to go from one little boy to two little boys. I will say however that the one thing that put me "over the edge" with the addition of each little dude was the increase of laundry! This past week as I was desperately trying to get laundry caught up for the coming days ahead. I asked the boys to put through a couple of loads of their clothes. I forgot to remind them to check the pockets of their pants before putting them in the washing machine. You guessed it...when I went to do a laundry change-over (which was later than it really should have been) I was shocked to see that Seichi's ipod shuffle and ear phones had gone through the wash thanks to S-dog borrowing them and putting them in his pockets. I freaked out as I showed handsome hubby what happened. I said to him "if this ipod ever works again we will be purchasing only apple products/computers for the rest of our lives". I think it needs to dry out more fully being it will turn on again as a result of this dangerous laundry experience.