Thumbs, Potty-training, and Father's Blessings

1. Thumbs.

When Daphne was tiny--just two months old, I isolated her thumb and showed her how to put it in her mouth so she could calm herself down.  (I know, what was I thinking?!?) It worked so well for Dallin, that I thought all kids should suck their thumbs.  There were no worries about losing all the pacifers and running out to buy new ones when none could be found, because our pacifers were built in.  :)

 At that point in time, I didn't think about what we'd do, if the habit proved difficult to break.  Dallin, (also an avid thumb-sucker in his earlier years) just decided one day when he was three and a half that he wasn't going to do it anymore, and that was that.  

But Daphne and her thumb forged a relationship that no amount of bribing, teasing from peers, buck-teeth-threats or braces-threats could sever.  

We tried gloves on her hands at night, which backlashed and increased the sucking during the day.  We tried charts, and rewards, but no matter what, she just couldn't stop.  

So one Monday night we had a family night in which we talked about the priesthood and the different ways the priesthood blesses our lives.  We talked about how blessed we are to have a father in our home worthy to hold the priesthood and how he can give us blessings when we are sick or when we need extra help with something.  That night Arthur gave blessings to Daphne to help her overcome her thumb-sucking habit, and Sean to help him learn to be potty-trained.  (I know that sounds silly, but it has become VERY, VERY important for the sanity of Arthur and I that Sean master this basic life-skill.)

Earlier that same day we received in the mail, a very special, very green thumb guard that we ordered on Amazon.  So the next day, armed with her father's blessing and the green thumb guard, she went to school and didn't suck her thumb all day.  After a week or so, she didn't even suck her thumb at night!  Yahoo!!!!  She's been thumb-free for three weeks now and I'm so proud of her.  It's hard to break a habit you've cultivated for over 5 years, and Daphne DID IT!  

What a girl!

2. Potty-training

Sean has been a very hard kid to potty-train.  He just has not been motivated by anything I have thought of to bribe him with.  (toys, treats, movies, you name it.)  I have friends whose children younger than Sean figured it out in a week, and when I think about that I sometimes want to shoot myself.  

My Sean, bless his heart -- We started back in September and it has been a LONG HAUL!  It got to the point that several months ago, Arthur put his foot down and decided that there would be no more children coming to our family until Sean was potty-trained.   

As I mentioned before, we had Father's Blessings one family night, but Sean's blessing didn't kick in right away.   He was hit and miss with peeing in the toilet, but pooping was all MISSES! Eventually the thought crossed my mind to investigate whether you can hire someone to potty-train your kid.  (They have those for animals, right?)  Because cleaning out poopy underwear every day really starts to wear on you.  

So one day I was at good ole' Walmart with the two little boys, and Sean asked if we could go over to the toys.  He fell in love with a Thomas the Train toy that he just had to have.  So I got it and told him he could have it when he went poop in the toilet.  The rest of the day went like this:  

Sean:  Mom?  You open this Thomas?

Me:  I'll open it when you go poop in the toilet.

Sean:  When I go pee in the toilet?

Me: Nope, you have to go poop.

Sean (is quiet for a few seconds and then says): Mom?  You open this?

And we had that conversation almost verbatim maybe 20 times that day.  Well, guess what?  He eventually earned that Thomas, and a little brain light switched on.  He did his business in the toilet again the next day, and Dad brought him home a new Chick Hicks car toy.  So the next time I was at the store, I stalked up on trains and Cars toys, and he went 5 DAYS IN A ROW with NO ACCIDENTS!!!!!  I can't really even describe how elated I felt!!!!!  I'm still feeling elated!!!!!!!!!!  (Sometimes there just aren't enough exclamation points!)

Sean took this picture of his collection.

$75 dollars later, (totally worth it) Sean has earned LOTS  of rewards, and uses the potty by himself most of the time and when he has an accident, he has to turn in his rewards and earn them back one by one.  It really was a matter of him deciding to do it, because I'd had rewards like that in the past, but he just didn't care.  

So with lots of prayers (thanks Mom) and a father's blessing, and maybe a little help from the next sibling waiting to come to our family, Sean is, for all intents and purposes, POTTY-TRAINED!!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!

"Put on your Sunday Clothes . . ."

" . . . When you feel down and out.  Stroll down the street and have your picture took." (Name the movie, song or actress.  Extra points if you can name all three!)

It doesn't happen very often, but once every two or three years, I actually psych myself up to get the kids into a studio for their pictures.  (I am lucky to have some awesome photographer friends who take care of most of my picture needs.)  So Wednesday after school, I cut all the boys' hair, and put all the kids in their Sunday clothes to get their pictures taken.  Hayden wouldn't smile for anything in the world, and I spent more money than I'd planned, but all in all, I think they turned out pretty cute.

Pinkalicious!

Several weeks ago I heard that Albuquerque Little Theater was putting on the musical, "Pinkalicious." I thought it would be fun to take Daphne and get together with some other moms and daughters to go see it!   

Coincidentally it was also our ward's Father's & Son's campout, which made it a little more difficult for a girl's night since we had to find babysitters. Here are Dallin & Arthur all packed and ready to head out. 


(Poor Sean missed out because Arthur has a rule that you have to be potty-trained to go on Father's & Son's. But it didn't phase Sean a bit. He didn't seem at all concerned that Dallin was going somewhere with Dad, and he wasn't.)

So tonight, we had ten daughters and seven mothers in our group.  A lot of other people had the same idea- we saw lots of little girls & moms there tonight dressed in PINK!   

Me and Daphne in our pink.  

With our pink tickets.

(As an aside, I have to confess that for a very long time I didn't like the color pink at all.  In fact, I thought if I ever had a girl I wouldn't even dress her in pink--I'd do purple and turquoise or other girly colors, but not pink.  But once I had my little girl in my arms, my opinion of the color suddenly changed, and now we are both pink fans.) 

"Pinkalicious!" is based on the picture book, of the same title, and I was really wondering how they were going to make a whole musical out of that short picture book. It was about an hour long (perfect for a kindergarten attention span,) and I've gotta say, it exceeded my expectations. It was really cute and Daphne and I just laughed and laughed--the gal who played "Pinkalicious" did a great job!  

Funny story about this picture:  All the girls just loved "Pinkalicious."  But they weren't so sure about her brother "Peter" (who, as you can see, turns pink at the end of the story --why?  well because he ate too many pink cupcakes, of course.)  So when we found the two of them after the show and were trying to take the picture, the six little girls all huddled around "Pinkalicious" and no one wanted to stand next to Peter, who gallantly tried not to take it personally. 

(But really, can you blame them? ;)

We had to do a little regrouping to make things more even.  

What could be better than strawberry milkshakes after the show?

It was a perfectly Pinkalicious time!

"I don't want to walk"

I must have heard Sean say that over 50 times on our preschool field trip yesterday: a hike on the Embudo Trail. He wanted to ride in the pack. Are you kidding me? That boy weighs as much as his 5-year-old sister. Besides, I wasn't carrying Hayden very long before I realized that I'm not in very good shape-- (Certainly in no shape to hike Half Dome this summer.  I'm thinking I should probably go hiking with Hayden on my back once a week to get myself up to snuff. -- Don't worry Dad, I'll be ready.)

Anyway, even though Sean repeatedly informed me that he didn't want to walk, walk he did, and by the end he finally forgot his woes, and even had some fun.  

Hayden was a happy camper riding in the pack and singing to himself. When he descended from his throne at our picnic spot, he promptly headed for the water and sat down in the little muddy stream, and then spent the rest of his time splashing his shoes and hands in the water.

It was a great day for a hike--sunny with a cool breeze and once we got past all the whining, we just had a super time.  Sean ran all the way back to the car--I couldn't keep up with him to save my life, and both he and Hayden fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I was worn out and had the best night's sleep I've had in a long while.  (Clearly, I really need to exercise!)

Hats for Hayden

Hayden has been into hats lately.  I didn't get a picture of his laundry basket hat, but that one was pretty cute too.

Backing up a bit

Here are a couple things I missed last week.

1. On Wednesdays the kids have early out day--kind of random and weird, but I like to have them home early, so whatever.  This past Wednesday they had a great afternoon playing together really nicely (which is not always the case) but it just made me feel so happy I had to document it.  

Playing nicely can really wear you out!

2. Also on Wednesday, I made some really yummy chicken wraps that turned out too delicious not to share so I'm posting the recipe here.  I got it from a Costco cookbook they were handing out for free one day!  Score!

Avocado Ranch Salad Wraps

1 avocado cut in 1/2 inch dice

2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/2 c ranch dressing

salt and pepper

*1 lb Willow Brook Kettle Fried Turkey Breast

I couldn't find that, so I just used chicken breast instead

4 c mixed salad greens (I just used spinach leaves)

4 10 inch flour tortillas

12 grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 c cilantro 

1/4 c sliced red onion (I omitted this and used green onion instead)

3 Tbsp shredded extra-sharp white Cheddar Cheese

Combine avocado, lime juice and ranch dressing.

Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Shred turkey, and stir into the avocado mixture.

Add cilantro and onion to the mixture

Place salad greens on tortillas, followed by the turkey mixture, tomatoes, and cheese.  

Roll up the wraps & cut in half.  Makes four servings.  

Enjoy! They are very tasty! 

3.  My birthday was this past weekend.  I also, had my Quintessence Cabaret Concert this past weekend, so the birthday festivities were kind of spread out.  We took the family out to eat at Olive Garden Friday afternoon and when we got home, I opened my birthday present.

 

Arthur got me AN ICE CREAM MAKER!!!!   I have such fun memories of my family growing up making homemade ice cream together and all taking turns cranking the handle with Dad.  

Arthur got me one that can be hand-crank or electric, which is great!  I just know we have lots of fun memories in store for us, and I can't wait to break it in.  

Sunday night, we had my birthday dinner.  The kids set the table with a table cloth, and name tags for everyone, and picked pansies to arrange in my small circle vase.  They put out "special glasses"  (I think they might be parfait dishes) for Arthur & I, and filled all the cups with water.

(Unfortunately, it was more temptation than Hayden could handle, because he climbed on the table, plucked the petals off a few of the flowers, and spilled two cups of water, saturating Sean & Dallin's name tags and soaking the table cloth--so things were a bit damp for dinner.)

This is just a picture of the name tags & vase since I didn't get a picture of the whole thing last night.  I just loved their flower arrangement and the nametags written in their cute 1st grade/kindergarten handwriting.

Arthur made me a delicious white cake with strawberries and whipped cream. (Can't get enough of that stuff lately.)  And since he couldn't find the bag of candles, we used the broken number three.  But really it stands for 24.  

okay fine.  29.

4.  Which means, that my parents celebrated their 30th anniversary this weekend!  Congratulations you guys!  What an example you are setting for your posterity.  We love you and can't wait to see you this summer.

5.  As previously mentioned, my last Quintessence Concert was this weekend.  It is the fun one of the season--members of the choir do solos, duets, and small ensembles with lots of different kinds of music.  A lot of show tunes and jazz and things.  Despite getting the video camera charged and the camera ready for Arthur, he forgot them in his rush out the door.  So Jenny & Julianne, I'm sorry, but I don't have any recording of my solo, "Girl in 14G," which is such a BUMMER because I nailed it.   

A friend in the choir did email me these pictures, though.  

This would be the girl upstairs in 15G (the jazz singer)

Here's me as the 14G girl.  

All we need is the 13G opera girl, and it would be almost like being there.

Anyway, the concert went well, (if a little long) and was well attended.  Thanks to my friends who came to support me!!!  It means a lot to me!

I'm also thankful for my Arthur who has been awesome in supporting me in developing my talents.  He has held down the fort by himself most Sunday evenings when I have been at rehearsal over the last 3 years.  He is so great at giving me "space to fly" as Marjorie Hinckley used to say of her husband.  Thank you, Arthur!!!