Why Libraries Matter

This video is so beautiful and really spoke to my heart.  I so love libraries, and truly believe they are one of the most essential institutions in our society.

To quote Maya Angelou, "When it looked like the sun wasn’t gonna shine any more, God put a rainbow in the clouds. A library is a rainbow in the cloud."


And I thank God for libraries!

My Little Monster

Little Friend has quite the personality.  He is always making us laugh. Here's just one of the many reasons why!

Dearest Isaac: You Are My Sunshine

In honor of Isaac's third birthday, I've finally created some videos with photos of our beautiful angel boy.  If you watch them in order, you'll see how he grew-- not just taller, stronger, and plumpier, but also brighter and more adorable.  He truly brought us joy each and every day.

Kiddo & Little Friend at the Park- January 2012

I think maybe Little Friend likes to swing... just a little bit.  What do you think? ;)

Yet Another New Trick!

Little Friend is growing and learning so fast. His newest trick is absolutely adorable. Take a look.

A Joyful Noise

Even though he only lived a short time, our sweet Isaac was a little music maker, too. I remember hearing a little person plinking at the keys of the Tap-a-Tune one day and assuming it was Kiddo. I was quite surprised to see little Isaac, about four months old, had scooted over to the little "piano" and was making his own "music." Here's a video, from late September 2009:

Have you ever seen anything cuter or sweeter than that? Oh, how I miss him!

Kiddo Counts His Blessings

Granted, I am his mother, so I think this video (from last August) of Kiddo singing is beyond adorable. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Oh, and by the way, PLEASE pardon the very messy room in this video. Be merciful and remember that I was pregnant, we have no A/C, and it was oppressively hot so I didn't feel like exerting myself much.

Sunday Will Come

This is still one of my favorite talks ever. It is all the more poignant to me because he delivered it in the October 2006 Conference, when I was just beginning to find the light at the end of the very, very dark tunnel of Post Partum Depression. What a kind and tender heart Elder Wirthlin has. His words have always brought me such hope and peace.

The full text of his inspiring talk can be found at:

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=0af888f17feae010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Mommies are the BEST

WOW, this made me cry!!! I just love this little girl.

I don't know about you, but my kiddos rarely express such appreciation for those simple acts of service their parents do every day. So if you ever feel taken for granted, know that *I* think you're awesome... or pretend that Sophia is *your* little kid telling *you* how wonderful *you* are... or make your kids watch this 'til they get the point... ;-)

Big thanks to my own Mommy for all those little things, and a million or so more... although she often didn't let me choose my clothes OR hairstyles, and it would have been a Pepsi she shared, not a "Coca-Cola!" ;-) LOVE YOU FOREVER!

Little Hercules

I've been meaning to post this ever since I filmed it, but you know, life intervenes...

I guess Little Squirt must have heard about his big brother's talents and wants us to know he doesn't plan on being outshined.

Interesting Idea...

Trying to embed a video:

I just watched this video on the Fox News website, and thought it was pretty amusing. I'm not sure if I'd use the same tactic with Kiddo were he to come home with a report card like that, but it would be tempting. I can't decide what's funnier: the son's reaction to his discipline, the newsman's pointing out that the child did get an A in PE, or the newswoman saying, "Congratulations!" to the family at the end of the video.

What do you think you'd do in that situation?

The Boy Genius Strikes Again... and Again... and Again!

I guess I haven't posted much lately about what Kiddo's been up to. But really, he's learning so fast that who can keep up with him? I am so amazed by his intelligence, and am as proud of him as I could be, but sometimes I think we're just dreaming it all. And I am becoming increasingly worried about his future education because #1, I am now pretty certain that he would be bored at regular school all day and probably get himself in trouble, and #2 I don't know how I could possibly keep up with him well enough to home-school long-term, especially now that he's got a brother on the way. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. REALLY. Here's just a few reasons why:

I think I eluded to the fact that in November Kiddo showed us that he can read-- for real. He's moved beyond recognizing some sight words to being able to pick up a book he's never seen before and start reading aloud whole sentences, only stopping to ask for unfamiliar words. The first sentence I caught him reading? "I am not a happy pig." Thank you, Mo Willems-- I just love that! :) Now we have to be extra careful what we've got lying around because he's been known to pull our books or magazines off the shelf to read a random sentence or two before moving on to something else!

In December he suddenly became intensely interested in his US map placemat, and began asking us to tell him each state. Within 2 weeks, he knew them all. He can find them on the map, AND recognize the names of each of the 50 states in other contexts: "Daddy's bag says Colorado!" or pointing out "New York" on the title page of a book, etc., etc..

This month Kiddo's learning the state capitals, and already has them almost all memorized. He started with interest in Iowa and Colorado. I had pointed out to him Des Moines in the Road Atlas and told him I was born there. Then one day he pointed at Denver and said, "Is this Des Moines?" so I had to explain that it was Denver. Then we taught him Springfield, in honor of President Lincoln, and he began recognizing the capitals that are actually named after Presidents. Then he learned Topeka, which is an endless source of amusement to him-- who knows why. Then, for about a week, he had no interest in capitals and would say, "I don't want to know them. I want to learn the states." Or, he would want to learn the flags for certain states instead (also on his placemat).

Then in mid-January, Mommy accidentally found this book at the Library called "Celebrate the 50 states" and it has been his constant companion for a week or so. Each page has bright, colorful pictures of 2 states, and the capitals are clearly marked. One night, Daddy-O teasingly said, "I'll bet you don't know the capital of Colorado!" It was like you could see a light turn on above Kiddo's head, or as if he was thinking, "Okay, Daddy-- GAME ON!" because now he is busy learning them all. He actually asks us to say, "I'll bet you don't know..." so he can show us what he does know. If you've got a few minutes, here's a video of one of Kiddo's new favorite "games." I can't figure out why he likes to be quizzed, but maybe he's setting out to beat Ken Jennings' record on Jeopardy and thinks he needs an extremely early start!


By the way, "Scary Nevada" is a term he came up with the day before, all on his own. :)

But, lest anyone think I'm just trying to show off, I really don't take credit for his insane brilliance. Goodness knows the only part of it he inherited from me was just general nerdiness-- meaning that he often sees me looking at atlases and dictionaries and reference books-- NOT the amazing memory, huge brain capacity, or the incredible energy. I will also let you know that he still has ZERO interest in using the potty. I asked him over the weekend how old he thought he'd be when he starts using the potty. His reply? "Fifteen." I guess we're definitely gonna hafta home-school... ;)

Yes, I'm still alive...

... just tired and pregnant.

We don't know the gender at this point, but after considering it for a few weeks, Kiddo #1 has finally decided that Kiddo #2 is a boy and has approved our choice for the first name. He has also weighed in on what he thinks the baby's name should be if, gasp, it's a girl. How generous of him, eh? Must be that Christmas spirit! :)

Halloween Recap

Here is Kiddo's take on Halloween. The video's a bit wonky because he kept trying to sit on my lap, and I kept trying to get him in front of the camera. Sigh...

He got his first real taste of Halloween this year, and I think he's decided he likes it. I didn't really have a costume for him, but at the last minute I saw a sticker depicting Linus basically like this:

and I realized Kiddo has essentially the same outfit, and a blue fuzzy blanket... plus, he's quite precocious like Linus. So, voila! In two minutes, we created his costume. I did add the sticker to his shirt to "clarify." Daddy-O was shaking his head at me, telling me it wasn't a costume, but at least 3 people stopped and said, "Awwww! He's Linus-- how cute!!!" So there, Daddy-O, it is a costume, and it didn't cost us anything. HA!

We had perfect weather-- 75 degrees... on HALLOWEEN... in the MIDWEST...? Oh, yeah. But we decided it would be easier to keep Kiddo in line if he trick-or-treated at the Mall. We covered about 3/4 of the Lower Level and he ended up with way more candy than we would ever let him eat. After stopping at about 3 stores, he turned to me and said, "This is cool!"

When we got to the Build-A-Bear, he ran into the store. We thought he wanted a bear. Nope, he had found a machine with lots of NUMBERS and BUTTONS, which if you pushed them, played MUSIC or ANIMAL SOUNDS. Kiddo thought he was in Heaven, and did not want to leave. Eventually we dragged him out, by bribing him with Smarties.

All in all, it was a fun evening for Kiddo, and whenever he sees the Trick or Treat bag, he gets excited. Maybe next year, we'll get him a real costume... if only I could sew! I have LOTS of ideas. But that's a whole other post in itself!

Sing Us A Song...

Just because he's cute!



Question: Does it make me a horrible Mommy to admit that his little dance routine with the rainbow flower reminds me of the Munchkins singing to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz?

You just never know...

This post is for all the current and former Nursery teachers and leaders. I remember the 6 months I was Nursery Leader, and feeling there was really no point sometimes in trying to give a lesson because, who was listening, anyway?

As a parent, I always ask my Kiddo what he did in Nursery, and his answer every time is, "Share!" I'd like to hope that he's actually sharing, but I sort of doubt it. Anyway, since they've started using the new Nursery manual, we sometimes get to see a glimpse of what the lesson must have been, based on the coloring pictures he brings home. But rarely will he ever talk about what the picture represents. Here are two exceptions.

First, this video, from August. It cracks me up, because it is a pretty good representation of Kiddo's true feelings about obeying Mommy and Daddy-O... sigh.



Second, a story from a few weeks ago. While getting Kiddo ready for his after-Church nap, I was singing, "We are a Happy Family" ("I love Kiddo, He loves me. We love Daddy, yes sirree. He loves us and so you see, we are a happy family."), not a song that we routinely sing, for whatever reason. At the end, Kiddo exclaimed, "YEAH! And, I can love others!"

"You can love others?" I asked. "Where did you learn that? At Church?"

"YES. In Nursery."

He didn't care to elaborate, but after I got Kiddo to sleep, I told Daddy-O the story and asked him if he had looked at Kiddo's picture for the week. Daddy-O hadn't seen it either, so he pulled it out of the diaper bag and looked.... Sure enough, the caption reads, "Jesus Christ showed us how to love others!"

So take heart, Nursery Leaders, someone just might be listening after all!

Tongue Twisters

Kiddo really likes to hear me say different tongue twisters. I can't even remember when or why I started doing them, but I think this is his favorite. At least, it's the only one he says back to me!

Some Very Useful Information

Is this kid all boy or what? Yes, there is a story behind this, but for once, I'm going to let the video stand by itself.

If this doesn't make you smile-

-then your heart is made of stone! It makes my day every time I play it.

I have been trying in vain for MONTHS to get a good video of Kiddo singing, and last week I was finally able to sneak up on him in the car and capture a few seconds of his "concert." He may look like he's imitating musical geniuses Ray Charles and/or Stevie Wonder, but he was actually listening to Elizabeth Mitchell.

Perhaps the best part of the whole story is that when the song finished, my husband turned to Kiddo and said, "Chief! You just gave your Mama another thing to post on her blog!" Ah, yes.

Kiddo will be so jealous!

Maybe you've heard that Kiddo's favorite number is EIGHT!

Anyway, this lucky Parker Foster Aiken kid (so sounds like a Law firm!) was born on 8-8-08 at 8:08 a.m. Poor Kiddo didn't have any EIGHTS in his birthday... or time, or weight, or length...

Numerology Expert: Clay Aiken's Son Has 'Powerful' Birthdate - Babies, Music News, Clay Aiken : People.com

I love this quote from the "expert" :

"Eight is a very powerful number. It's a number of mastery," says Hardt of Life Path Numerology in Indianapolis, Ind. "It's a number of being in control," he adds "That's why a lot of people are drawn to it."

That must be why Kiddo likes it so much. He's all about being in control!