She Said

The kids and I enjoy watching Food Network Challenge. Our favorite episodes involve cakes or other desserts. Last night the challenge was to design a birthday cake for one of the judges. She's the toughest judge on the show and most of the contestants are afraid of her.

Halfway through the show, Kirsten blurts out,
"Why are they making them so big? I can make a cake using my Easy Bake Oven. First, I'll put one pan in. Then the other. Then, I'll frost it and put flowers on it. It would be just as good!"

That's my Kirsten...Keeping things simple.

I just remembered something else Kirsten said that made me laugh.
Again, it involves watching TV (we really aren't couch potatoes).
A commercial came on for a product called Muzzy. Have any of you heard of it. Apparently, it's supposed to teach your children how to speak a new language.
So, we're watching this and Kirsten says,
"We should get that for David."
I asked her why.
She said, "Because he doesn't know how to speak."

Pocket Treasures

Last night I was a no show at Steven's pack meeting. This is the first pack meeting that I have missed in a long time, but I was feeling light headed and dizzy.

When Steven returned from scouts, he excitedly ran to me with something in his hands.

"Mom! Here's some cookies that I saved for you."

He handed me a blue napkin with two chocolate cookies (ones that we had made earlier on in the day for this event) nestled inside. The cookies felt warm, as if they had recently come out of the oven. This confused me. Our cookies wouldn't be warm. We had made them hours ago.

I asked Steven if these were our cookies and he said, yes.

"Why are they so warm?" I asked.

"Because they were in my pocket." replied Steven.

What is it with boys and their pockets? Everything ends up there. On laundry day, I am always finding little surprises hidden in their pants. Rocks, Legos, crayons, leaves, magnets, rubber bands, etc.

Well, at least Steven thought to wrap them in a napkin before putting them in his pocket. And...They were yummy.

Bless Mom

This morning was Kirsten's turn to give our family prayer. Her prayers are usually the same. But today, she decided to surprise us. Kirsten began to bless every member in our family. She was in-tune with each family member's needs.

I was thinking to myself, "Wow! Kirsten's really giving her prayer some thought."

Then it was my turn to be blessed. Here are Kirsten's exact words:

"Please bless Mom to learn something that she can do."

I wonder how long it will take Heavenly Father to answer that prayer...

How do I Lose This?

Dedicated to my friends who are Dallas Cowboys fans.

I thought I'd share another funny Kirsten moment.
She was looking through her football cards (the boys give her the ones they don't want) smiling proudly with each one.

Then, I heard her yell, "A Cowboy card! A Cowboy card! How did I get this?"

Next, I hear a scream!

"I need to lose this card! But how do I lose it?" she asks herself.

Kirsten proceeds to look around her surroundings. We are in the office, so she is in the right place to lose something (it's a disaster area).

The light bulb above Kirsten's head goes on.

Next thing I know, she tosses it over and behind the bookcase.

"There!" she says with relief. "Now I'll never see it again!"

Trying to Out-Smart Santa

Everyone knows that the Santas wearing a fake beard, hair, and stuffing are "Santa's helpers". Right? That's what my children have learned. The "real" Santa lives in the North Pole, but attends the Tomball Ward in Cypress, TX. (We've seen him)

With this valuable knowledge, Steven knew right away that the Santa at our ward's Christmas party was NOT the real one. He stood in line with Kirsten, but had no intention on sitting on his lap. Steven did not want to waste his time on a fake Santa. But as soon as Kirsten had finished talking with Santa (telling him she wanted a Kirby DS game), Steven told me that maybe he will sit on his lap (I'm sure the candy that Kirsten received had nothing to do with his flip).

A few minutes later, Steven walked away from fake Santa with a devious grin, proudly holding his candy cane.

I asked him how it went and Steven said, "I told Santa that I wanted a STINK BOMB!"

I laughed and told Steven that now he's really going to get one for Christmas.

Steven shook his head and said, "No. Because this isn't the real Santa."

I replied, "But Steven, he's Santa's helper. Remember! He's going to tell the real Santa that Steven Zinn wants a stink bomb for Christmas."

Steven looked a little disappointed. I was sure he was kicking himself for making this mistake. He was probably wishing he had said what he really wanted for Christmas, which is a DS Light.

But then Steven said, "Oh......COOOOOL!"

Sweat Talk With James

Every morning, James wakes up with a bad case of bed hair! I don't know what he does in his sleep...But it must be exciting.

Yesterday afternoon was a hot 90 degrees. After our daily exercise (me running, James and Steven roller blading, and Kirsten on her bike), we were all pretty sweaty. I was the only one to take a shower afterwards. It is a battle to get the rest to care about personal hygiene. James is getting better and will shower most of the time, but not this day.

Anyways, the day went on and after dinner I wanted to go to the library. I had just finished reading a book and wanted the sequel to it. I asked to see if anyone wanted to join me. James was my only taker.

While walking to the car he excitedly said, "Mom, my hair's not sticking up! I sweated it down."

That's one way of fixing the hair problem.

While I'm on the sweat topic, I just remembered another story with James. A few months ago, James was given deodorant for the first time. He has just started to stink. I just assumed that he knew how to use it.
A note to parents: NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING!

The Sunday morning after I had given James the deodorant, I called the kids together to leave for church. As they emerged, I did my usual quick inspection. Was the hair fixed, are shoes on, was the tie straight, was the collar turned down, etc. James was looking good in his navy blue sweater worn over his white shirt. But as I looked closer, I noticed something white underneath his arms on his sweater. I asked James to lift up his arms and then it hit me. James had put his deodorant on his clothes! I couldn't contain the laughter, even though I knew he was embarrassed. I took James to the bathroom and was able to rub the white stuff off his sweater using a damp rag. Then I showed James where the deodorant really belonged.

James is a good sport about the whole experience. In fact, just the other day, he jokingly said to me, "I still think the deodorant is supposed to go on my clothes."

Code of Kirsten

Today's history lesson was about Hammurabi, who was the king of Babylon during 1780 BC. He wanted his empire to be governed by just laws. Hammurabi wrote down all of the laws that he thought were fair and had them carved on stone. These laws are called the Code of Hammurabi.

At the end of the lesson, I asked Steven and Kirsten questions about what they were taught.

One question was, "Name one of the laws in the Code of Hammurabi."

Steven's answer, which was correct, was, "If a thief steals an animal, he will pay ten times what it is worth. If he doesn't have enough money to pay with, he will be put to death."

Then Kirsten said, "I know a new law. If a person steals an animal, they should return it and say, 'I'm sorry' "

Who would you rather be ruled by?

Hands

While snuggling on the couch,
Kirsten took an interest in my hands.
She held them in hers, turning them over
and rubbing them.
At any moment, I was expecting her to read my future:
"You will live until you're 100 years old.
You're life will be filled with happiness and love.
You'll be rich enough to own a beach house .
You're children will live by you
and fill your home with many grandchildren..."

My daydreaming ended and this is what I heard Kirsten say,
"Your hands are starting to be old. It needs to be smooth. See mine? It's smooth."

You Remind Me Of...

This is a conversation Justin had with us at the dinner table today:

"Do you know who my history teacher reminds me of? Grandma Weller, because she's also a grandma and is so sweet. She's also funny and I've never heard her get mad."

Did I Read It Correctly?

This is a moment that I didn't have my camera ready for, but wished I had.

While sitting on the beach yesterday, I watched as a patrol truck slowly drove past me on the sand. The writing on the side doors made me laugh.

"Anger Patrol"

I am curious to know if this was done on purpose, or was the letter "R" just rubbed off. Was it supposed to read, "Ranger Patrol"?

I like the current version better.

Will my Friends Die?

"Will my friends die?"
This is the question that Kirsten has asked me a number of times today regarding her friends in Houston, Texas. We have had the Weather Channel on for most of the day watching Hurricane Ike grow in strength as it nears Galvaston, Texas. She is very concerned for Grace, Autumn, and her cousins. I keep telling her that her friends' parents are taking good care of them. But this didn't satisfy her. Kirsten wanted me to email them to make sure that they new a hurricane was coming their way. I assured her that they knew. She disagreed, so I sent an email. We love you Houstonians!

Temptation

This bush with pretty pastel flowers can be found growing on the front side of our property. At first sight, it can be described as an attractive privacy shrub with beautiful flowers. But to those who know it by name, aren't fooled by it's beauty. This is an Oleander plant. It is very poisonous to both humans and animals alike. It does not matter if the plant is dried, wilting, or fresh. The results to human or animal will be the same. Even the sap of this plant can cause skin allergies.

Why am I writing about this plant? Well, something Kirsten said today made me think about it. This morning, as I was getting ready to go grocery shopping, I asked if anyone wanted to go with me. Kirsten started to say yes, but after a little thought said, "If I go, I'll be tempted to buy some candy and I'm trying to save my money. So, no. I don't want to go." This was the first time I have ever seen Kirsten exhibit so much self control! Especially when candy was involved!

While unloading the groceries from the car, I noticed the flowers on the Oleander plant and thought of Kirsten's comment on resisting temptation. There are so many "things" in this world that appear to be good. We are all working hard to reach our goal (eternal life), but other "things" entice us along the way. The Oleander plant reminds me of Satan. On first appearance, Satan makes things appear good and beautiful. But, upon closer examination and study, the "thing" that before was so enticing, proved to be dangerous.
Being seven is a wonderful age. For now, Kirsten's biggest temptation is candy. As I look into her eyes and see her innocence, I wish I could freeze time. I wish I could protect her, and all my children from the "fiery darts of the adversary". Being a parent has really taught me to understand my Father in heaven a bit more. I know that He feels the same way about us. But, He has given us free agency. This is a hard concept for me to implement in my family. I have a hard time stepping aside and letting my children use their free agency to make decisions and learn on their own. I have a feeling that this will be an ongoing struggle, but I am working on it.

A Name That's out of this World

Our home teachers stopped by this afternoon to visit with our family. After the usual chit-chat of "what's new" and "how's it going", Brother Ford opened up the Ensign to the First Presidency message. He showed the kids President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's picture and asked them if they knew who he was. Then, Brother Ford asked them if they knew where Pres. Uchtdorf was from. The kids were stumped. So Brother Ford pronounced his name again saying, "Dieter Uchtdorf. Now where would a name like that come from?"

Steven's face lit up and he said excitedly, "Oh, I know! He's from Star Wars!"

We were all roaring with laughter. It was a while before Brother Ford could continue with the message.

Raining Money

While driving to the mall, the kids and I had an interesting conversation. At a stop light, I began to throw gum to all of them while yelling, "It's raining gum! It's raining gum!" We all agreed how awesome it would be if it really was raining gum. After a minute someone brought up the idea that raining money would be even better. Oh, the things we could buy and do with all that money. I was quickly humbled when James said, "If it really were raining money, I would only take $100. That would be just enough money to buy the Lego set that I've been wanting."

Would I take only what I needed? Thank goodness I have wonderful children who are always teaching me valuable lessons. They keep me in check.

Age in the Eye of a Child

While watering our tomato plants, Steven and Kirsten began to list the fruit that they want to grow when they have a place of their own. Steven said that he is going to have a lot of land to grow apples, peaches, apricots, and cherries. Kirsten was satisfied with only one:

STRAWBERRIES!

I then asked Kirsten if she would share her strawberries with me. Her answer left me speechless.

She said, "No, Mom. I'm only going to share with my friends."
I asked, "Why can't I have some?"
Kirsten then said, "Because you'll be dead."