joys of motherhood: june

These kids live a good life. They are super spoiled but still mostly sweet. We are having a really fun summer and basically just taking things easy and doing whatever we want! 

Classic cases of my kids:

We went to the grocery store and I gave the kids each a dollar bill and told them if they were really good they could pick out a prize for $1 to bring home. Caitlin was of super dedicated and kept her dollar bill safe and earned her prize but took FOREVER picking something out. She thought she wanted glitter but changed her mind in the check out line to a 50 cent ring pop. Nolan ended up ripping his dollar in half, losing one of the pieces, throwing a fit and got no prize.

Another day we went to the dollar store and I  told them they could choose anything they wanted. Nolan knew he wanted a car right away and once he saw the monster truck he was positive and never wavered. Caitlin chose about 5 different things and then last minute going through the check out line she changed to a huge lollipop. 

Nolan will tell you exactly how he feels or what he thinks about something. He will tell you with whatever force or volume he deems necessary, no matter who you are, if he feels like something needs to be said to you he will say it. Caitlin will show you. She's the most expressive little girl and she wears her heart on her sleeve. 

So my kids escaped.... Nolan and Caitlin were playing in the backyard and I was inside putting Maverick down. When I went outside to get them they were no where to be found. I never let them play in the front yard alone but the back is safe and completely fenced in and they cant open the fence. I was so confused when they weren't there so I was yelling their names and no answer. I went to check the front yard and there were a few kids out there that hadn't seen them and again no answer. I came inside and looked through the house and nothing. Then I got nervous. Where could they have gone?! And with whom?! I went back outside and looked again and noticed their little car was up against the back fence, by the neighbor's yard behind us. We aren't super close to those neighbors and they have older kids that my kids have never played with but something told me that they were over there. I looked over the fence and didn't see anything. I tried to go inside and call the neighbor but didn't even have her number so i got in my car and drove to the street behind us and went and knocked on their door. She answered and said, "Hey! Are you looking for your kids?" UMMM YES. Apparently their daughter had helped my kids climb the fence and they told her they had my permission and went inside to play. Give me a heart attack. 

More of Caitlin:
-she calls hand sanitizer = "hanitizer" and it's applied very liberally.
-The kids had a lesson about feeling the spirit and were asked to bare their testimonies in primary sharing time. Caitlin got her hand up the quickest to volunteer and was asked to come bare her testimony. She was happy to be picked and on her way up to the pulpit said to me, "Mom what's a testimony?" I love her confidence and willingness to just go do whatever is asked and I wondered what she would have done had I not been there. I came up to the pulpit and coached her through a few things to say and she did a great job expressing some of her feelings about the gospel.
-No questions about the human anatomy over here with two little brothers: We were at some stores the other day and went by a Calvin Klein store. In one of their windows they had male mannequins in just their underwear. Both kids got all giggly that they were just wearing underwear and then Caitlin says "They aren't real people but they just have underwear on and they even have the little bumps in them!" I couldn't believe she had said that so i asked her "What little bumps?" and she said "See? Those-- they look like weenies." Oh my heavens.
-Caitlin has an amazing attention to detail, one example is that I taught her what pearls are and how they come from inside seashells in the ocean. She was loving this and has brought it up several times. When it was "pirate day" at Summer Club I told her she should wear her mermaid shirt and then she was trying to decide what shorts to wear and said "Oooh Mom! I'll wear my white polka dot shorts because the polka dots look like pearls! And there are pearls in the sea under the mermaids!" I was pretty impressed with that one.

Nolan Man:
-At the mall they have these little pods of about 6 massage chairs that you can pay to sit in and get a massage. Nolan ran up and plopped in one and was climbing around yelling "This time machine is mine!"
-I took Nolan to the Nike store for new shoes and he only calls them "my nikes" not shoes, or tenneshoes, he's specific.
-In Nolan's prayer the other night: "please bless that Maverick won't choke on my Legos, Please bless mom and dad will be proud of me."
-I have so many stories I could tell about Nolan wandering and getting lost. I probably don't record most of them because they aren't funny to me for a few months, mostly just frustrating and scary. He went through a phase where he literally got lost  I lost him (because he never thought he was lost) every single public place we went to... the kids museum, the aquarium (twice) the store. He just wanders and he has no fear so he never feels like he needs to come find me, or even really notices that I'm not with him.

-The other day at the store a large black guy was our cashier. He was really nice and friendly with the kids and as we were leaving (luckily I THINK out of ear shot) Nolan asked "Mom why are some people painted like that??" 

-We had gymnastics and then a long day of errands and right after gymnastics Nolan had gone to the bathroom and gotten his undies a little wet. He refused to put them back on so I told him he'd have to go without. He said ok but wanted to get home as soon as possible to put new underwear on. He said "If i don't have underwear everyone will laugh at me!" I said ok but we have to go a few places first. He reminded me avery 10 minutes or so that we needed to get home so he could get new undies. But then we got invited to lunch with the cousins... and so he decided he could wait. Then we went to a couple stores. As we were loading back in the car he reminded me as soon as we got home he'd put new undies on. There were a couple guys standing outside about 10 feet or so from the car talking and one started laughing about their own conversation. Nolan noticed them and said, "Mom, why were those guys laughing?" I said "I dunno they are just talking and laughing." He said "Are they laughing because I have no underwear on?" I have never seen him be so self conscious!
-Nolan has a thing with white visors. I have no idea where this came from but he really wants me to get one. He has pointed them out several times if we've ever seen on in the store or on other people and whenever he sees one he says "Mom, I wish you had one of those hats. You should get that hat."

The Mav:

-Maverick really just thinks he is one of the big kids. He loves playing with whoever is around and I think he was a little bored with just me while the older two were at summer club! I however loved just running errands with one and kept thinking how quiet it was!

-I heard this quote in a Sunday lesson a few weeks ago and it has really stuck with me:

"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." -Julie B Beck

I'm so thankful that Paul is a worthy priesthood holder and that blesses our family each day, but I also think that being a mom without having the spirit with me would be impossible. There is great power and happiness that comes with listening to that still small voice and I'm incredibly grateful for that and for the opportunity that I have to work on this skill each day.