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25 October 2008:

Meeting Holly

Some of my favorite and most cherished memories are the moments when my older cutenesses (i.e. my kids) meet the newest cuteness (i.e. the new baby) for the first time. Meeting Holly was no exception. Here are some moments to remember:

Curtis surprised us all when I asked him if he could say "Holly". "Holly," he replied, so clearly. Okay, some of the words he says are clear and many are understandable but consider for a moment what he calls his other siblings, and then you will understand why we were surprised: Karina = Leedilee (yes, I'm serious. No idea where he got it but there you have it); Trevor = Bud; Enoch = Neenoch. How cute to hear his cute voice say our new baby's name!

He loved Holly from the beginning and gave her lots and lots (and lots) of kisses. So sweet!

Enoch is a sweet boy. Holly brings it out of him so well! The look on his face that day when he met Holly is priceless! He held her for such a long time just enjoying that new babe.

He also really wanted to understand everything around him. He asked many, many questions from "What is that on her belly button?" "What is an umbilical cord?" "Did I have one of those?" to "How did she get out from your belly, Mom?" I love his curiosity as he asked question after question and got answers for each one. "I never knew that!" he would say.

Trevor is my helper. Always has been. He didn't spend much time holding Holly (never been a snuggler, that boy) but he was quick to assist anyone who needed anything. (And he did enjoy the moments he spent holding his new sister.)

He was quite busy exploring the hospital room and playing in the nooks he found there. He always made looking at Holly part of his rounds as he explored. :)

Karina loves babies. Y'all know that. And so it came as no surprise to me that Karina wanted Holly the minute she walked in the room and could have held her the entire time. She would sit with or by anyone else that was holding Holly. She hardly left my side. Karina has great memories of holding our new babies by me in the hospital bed. She was looking forward to that and she enjoyed it very much.

On the way to the hospital, Grandpa had to take a detour because there was a parade on Main Street. Karina, not recognizing the area of town he was driving through, said to him from the backseat: "Where are we going? I just want to see my new baby sister!"

Love these kids!!!!

October 2008:

Two stories:

Yesterday Trevor and Enoch were playing with a neighbor friend. The friend said that he was being silly because it was fun to be silly. Enoch's response (and I have to admit, I am paraphrasing because I can't remember his exact words):
"Yea! It's good to be silly! In conference, one of the apostles said that it's good to be silly because then we can laugh more!"
He was referring to Elder Wirthlin's talk.

Today Curtis woke up from his (too short) nap very sad. First he was just hugging me, then he was just laying on the floor, wouldn't let me pick him up, sad. But not for long! He saw Karina sitting on the floor playing a card game, crawled over to her, and laid his head on her lap. Karina reached down and rubbed his back. Soon enough, Curtis was his regular happy-go-lucky self.
What a great relationship!

I even got a picture:

September 2008:

With Karina's permission, here is her journal entry as she wrote it on the 23rd of September 2008:

"My tooth was loose. HAOORY! Last night, after family home evening I said to my mom “I kinda want you to yank it.” Then I brushed my teeth and when got a drink I think the cup hit the tooth ‘cause it was in the cup. I will keep it."

Thus is the story of Karina's first missing tooth. (She has waited and watched her friends lose their teeth, and wondered when it would happen to her, so it was a very exciting time for my 7 year old.)

August 2008:

Enoch and I were sitting at the campfire at our family reunion over Labor Day weekend. Someone had made a log cabin fire and Enoch and I were watching the "walls" of the cabin slowly burn and fall down.

"I hope the people all get out safely," I said to him

"Why?" he asked, innocent as a four year old boy, "They're just pretend people. They're not real!"

"I know," I replied, "but I like happy endings even when I'm just pretending."

He was silent for a minute. Pretty soon, the log cabin came crashing down. Enoch looked at me.

"Sorry, Mom, it was not a happy ending."

August 2008:

The Assertiveness of Curtis Michael

One evening Curtis had a late nap and was not tired at all when it came time for bedtime. Aaron and I let him wander around in a quiet, dark house as we did quiet activities to encourage his sleepyness.

Soon he was laying by me as I read a book in my bed, playing with my hair and going to sleep. When he was asleep, I said to Aaron, "He's asleep, do you want to go lay him in his bed?"

To which Curtis opened his eyes just a little bit and said, "No. No." and then closed his eyes again.

Aaron and I looked at each other, amused. "Is he awake?" I wondered. But guess what? He wasn't!

May 2008:

"Mom, I hear some thunder. I have got to get out there!" Enoch Aaron, age 3

May 2008:

Today at Karina's physical therapy appointment, the boys were sword fighting (which they often do) with one of the people who work there. Trevor pretended to be many fearsome opponents. Here's an illustration of Trevor's imagination:

"I'm the bomb!", Trevor exclaimed and then described his powers: fire balls coming out of his mouth and hands and legs that explode when they get close to the person they are aimed at.

Monster Killer: one whose light saber has special powers that strike down on the first blow no matter what

Skeleton

and here's one that made me laugh so hard I cried (I'm not kidding, and it was in front of the entire Cache Kids staff, and I couldn't stop!!!):

"Now I'm a... STINGER BEE!" he yelled with a fearsome expression, to which Charlie laughed and replied that stinger bees weren't that scary. "Oh yeah?" cried Trevor, and he charged him with his sword. Just at the last second, he spun around and hit him with his backside. "You are stung!," Trevor exclaimed triumphantly. Charlie was quite impressed.

May 2008:

We were all sitting on the bench as a family during sacrament meeting, when right in the middle of it, Curtis decided he'd had enough. "All done," he said as he slid off the bench and started to head toward the door!

April 2008:

Curtis loves butter. I mean, really loves butter. One day he asked me for some butter. I explained to him that we do not eat butter alone. So... he asked for a piece of bread. And then he asked for some butter to go on it.

What a clever one year old!

Trevor loves computer games. One evening he asked if he could play computer games the next day. "If you're lucky!," I replied in jest. He, in all excitement and seriousness, answered, "I am!! Remember this morning? I found a penny in the parking lot!"

He was indeed allowed to play computer games the next day.

Karina was pretending with a friend. At one point, Karina's friend told her that she may need her walker for awhile, because she had broken her leg. Karina replied that her walker was, in fact, a car, but then said, "Here is my great-grandmother's cane. You can use that!"

Aaron and I were planting in our garden and our kids were playing in the dirt nearby. "I love you," we heard Enoch say in a sing-song voice and we looked over to see him talking to... a worm that he had found in the dirt! So sweet!

April 2008:

I mentioned to Karina that she is getting so big and getting heavier and it was getting harder for me to carry her. She thought about this and replied: "I guess I'll have to learn how to get into the van by myself then!"

I love her matter-of-fact attitude and her conviction that she can, indeed, do this with some practice and dedication. We both know that anything (and everything) is possible!

April 2008:

Notable Quote:

"As soon as I get all my wiggles out - BOOM! - they just get back in!" -Trevor, age 5

February 2008:

So the other day we were sitting in our van and 3 year old Enoch starts singing to me: "I know something about love" he sings.

I just had to ask: What do you know about love, Enoch?

And his response, in such a sweet, innocent voice: "I just know that I love everybody."

Good answer!

(Trevor loves music and listens to music on my laptop all the time. He recently discovered the song from the My Best Friend's Wedding Soundtrack. Do you know it? It's called "Tell Him": "Tell him that you never want to leave him/ Tell him that you'll always gonna love him" ...or something like that. And it starts out just as Enoch sang it above. Trevor thinks this is a great song to dance (i.e. jump, run, etc) around the living room too. So of course Enoch (and Curtis and Karina for that matter) join in. They are so fun!)

February 2008:

When I realized that my camera was lost, and would be almost impossible to recover, I cried. And my kids comforted me in each their own ways. I feel so blessed to have these kiddos at my side.

Enoch: gave me a kiss on my cheek

Trevor: cried with me

Karina: tried to put it into perspective: "At least it's not one of the kids," she told me

29 January 2008:

Tonight I said to Karina: "It's time to get your pajamas on!", to which she replied, with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye: "Aye, Aye, Captain!"

29 January 2008:

Yesterday it was hailing outside, and I called to my boys: "It's hailing outside! Do you know what hail is?"

And Trevor replied: "Yea! I've heard that from the scriptures!"

25 January 2008:

Today Enoch said a very profound thing about Curtis: "He's growing up and up into a big boy just like us!"

For proof, click here

January 2008:

One day, all the boys fell asleep on our drive home from picking up Karina. So we decided to go for a longer drive. We drove out to the town of Paradise to look at the country and the houses and to, well, just drive to let them sleep.

When Karina discovered where we were, she started singing a song from the backseat: "Just another day in Paradise," she sang. So clever!

December 2007:

One day I started loading the dishwasher and was distracted by a telephone call. When I got back, I found two good helpers: Trevor, standing on the stool rinsing the dishes and handing them to Enoch, who was putting them in the dishwasher. "It was a surprise," said Trevor, "for you! Because we knew you would like it!"

24 December 2007:

Today we made gingerbread houses as a family and Uncle Devin. Here are things I noticed:

Karina: She spent a lot of time making a manger and then adding Joseph and Mary for a nativity display in the yard. She also had "grandchildren running all around".

Trevor: Came up with some unique creations, such as his teeter totter and wreaths in the window. He and Enoch both had two chimneys on their roof: one for the fire smoke and one for Santa to come down. (I'm just guessing this one was Trevor's idea.)

Enoch: Quantity for this guy: His front yard had a blizzard of coconut with all sorts of candy intertwined. His was also the never ending project. He liked everyone else's ideas and had to add some for himself.

20 December 2007:

Today was Karina's Christmas Program at her school. Two remarkable and wonderful things happened:

1. Karina sang the songs with her class clear and loud. She usually doesn't do this even though she knows all the songs because she simply just can't keep up. Today she did not let this bother her and she kept up pretty well!

2. Karina stood up by herself and kept standing while she sang all the songs. She is so strong! This girl is awesome!

It was one of those moments that just make the Mama smile to see her kids growing and learning and progressing right before your very eyes!!!

December 2007:

One day by my nativity from Israel, I found a pirate looking over the shoulder of one of the shepherds. "Trevor," I asked with a smile, "did you put your pirate here?" To which he replied,

"He's not a mean pirate, mom! He just came to see the new baby Jesus!" (Oh good, I was so worried...)

December 2007:

This past weekend, Kenna and my three oldest went to an ice skating show put on by the local ice skating classes. It was so fun! Here is what they noticed the most while they were there:

Karina: loved the ice skating itself. Watched the performers on and off the ice. Got really excited when the ice skaters were kids like her.

Trevor: could hear the music coming from above and had to figure out where the speakers were. Also loved to point out which Christmas songs that we knew and from where.

Enoch: loved the decorations: pointed out the trees and the lights and the Viking Ship (especially exciting, although it was actually Santa's sleigh). He also sang along with the songs he knows.

December 2007:

The other day, we were driving past the temple. Aaron asked the kids what they thought of when they saw the temple. Here are their answers:

Enoch: (whispers) Be reverent.

Trevor: I really love to roll down that hill. (The Logan Temple is on a fabulous rolling hill)

Karina: I want to be ready to go there someday.

October 2007:

As part of his lesson for FHE, Aaron asked the kids what they were afraid of? Here are their answers:

Karina, age 6: "fires and earthquakes"

Trevor, age 4: "big animals when my dad and mom aren't with me"

Enoch, age 3: "that monsters will get me"