Talent Show Glory

Remember back in 2012 at our Thanksgiving Talent Show how Whitney did cartooning on demand? It was a big hit with the aunts, uncles and cousins, so I suggested Whitney do that for her school talent show but on an iPad with image projected up onto a big screen.

She had to try out because they only chose 5 of the 7th graders to perform their talent, but she ended up being one of them! She performed for the 7th graders during school on Tuesday and then again on Thursday night for anyone who wanted to come.

She told the audience she "mainly draws dogs, cats, and foxes" so they could yell out something for her to draw and she would do it. This is a cat slapping a dog.

This is a cat twerking!

This is two dogs eating spaghetti.

She did so great! She looked totally calm and collected even though the auditorium was full of teachers and 600 other 7th graders! She later said she was shaking and nervous, but it didn't look like she was at all.

This is the program for the Thursday night performance when lots of parents, teachers and students came to watch all 3 grades perform.

This time she knew to use the microphone more to tell the audience what the crowd had suggested she draw and she knew to leave the drawing on the screen until it was time to do the next drawing (instead of erasing it immediately which she did in the first performance).

My parents were kind enough to come. I had seen the program earlier in the day while at work so I had texted them to let them know she was 3rd on the program (there's no way my dad would have made it through the entire show, he left a couple performances after hers but my mom stayed for the whole show).

The same boys who had requested she draw a twerking cat at the Tuesday show requested a twerking dog at the night show (she just happens to have a huge crush on one of them).

One student requested she draw a fat cat saying "aint nobody got time for dat".

This is a bloated fox floating in the sky.

It was so fun seeing her in action like this and hearing the response of the crowd. Everyone was oohing and aahing. She's now famous at school!

Trying Something Different

After pinning job charts for months on Pinterest I finally got fed up that I hadn't been able to find what I was looking for so I Googled "Free Download Job Chart" and found one that I can alter each week. It's still not the perfect solution for us, but it's working so far.

This is Whitney's chart from last week. The kids have the possibility of earning $5.00 (which is I think may be too generous) depending on the percentage of job completion they do. Some of the jobs are daily but others are only one-time deals. We've decided that opting completely out of a job is NOT a possibility and that they will lose screen time the next week if that occurs.

Landon is a money guru so he always fairs better than Whitney. It has been a challenge to come up with different jobs on top of the main cleaning jobs, but I've gotten creative and whenever I see something different that needs doing I save it up for next week's job chart.

 Landon has had daily Indexing on his chart multiple times.

Whitney had to real out loud to me for 15 minutes a day for a week.

One of Whitney's job was to take all the cushions off the couch to vacuum everything...obviously she loved doing it.

Landon got to dust our heinous light fixture and take down and wash all the glass parts...that was a first for him.

Whitney learned how to wash out the fridge (I think she actually enjoyed this job).

Landon made quesadillas for dinner.

Whitney made mostacciolli (which involved making a tasty white sauce) for dinner.

We've been getting the wheels in motion for Landon's Eagle Project, so getting a signature from a guy at the city offices was one of Landon's jobs, the job chart definitely helped to move things along.

There's a Teenager in the House!

Today is Landon's 13th birthday!

We paid a small fortune but had a great birthday breakfast at IHOP.

He was pleased with his birthday sundae.

Our early morning self-portrait in the IHOP parking lot.

He wanted to do a jumping picture.

Sometimes it's fun to pose for a shot through your birthday balloons.

 

We got him a bouquet of 13 balloons, a new BYU t-shirt (that's practically all he wears), a super soft blanket and some mini donuts. His friend party is on Friday night and his family party is on Saturday evening. He is saving his birthday money to buy a wii game system so we'll be going in on that with the rest of the family.

13 Things I Love About Landon

1. He is a good boy through and through.
2. He is always willing to do what is asked of him.
3. He has a great sense of humor.
4. He is an excellent older brother.
5. He takes his school work seriously.
6. He is spiritual.
7. He is a good example to us as his parents.
8. He is better than even the best parts of Randy and I.
9. He is making the most of his perfect body and metabolism by being super active.
10. He's got a good heart.
11. He is very thoughtful.
12. He is a good friend to everyone.
13. He wants to do what is right. His motto for the past year (which he repeats to us multiple times a day) is "Always, always tell the truth, be nice and be awesome, follow all the commandments I will forever and I mean it, I love you and I'll let my light shine forever." (I really have to record him saying this because it is such a part of him.)

I know I've said it before, but Randy and I really didn't think much past the "having a baby" part of parenthood. It's surreal to mark time by the changes in a child and if I start thinking about him growing up my eyes fill with tears and my heart starts to hurt. It's best if I take it one day at a time. Oh my heart.

**Do you remember your 13th birthday?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I've slept weird 2 nights in a row and have a kink in my neck, it's not pleasant.

 

Sunday Thoughts

On the first Sunday of every month we get a ward newsletter which consists of a message from one of the Bishopric, a new ward list, all the scheduled events for the various organizations, a list of birthdays and so on (and often includes pictures I've taken during primary).


In this month's newsletter, our Bishop challenged the ward to work on 7 items.

1. Read the Book of Mormon by the end of July
2. Take time individually and as a family to write your testimony in a copy of the Book of Mormon.
3. Parents are to hold a personal private interview with each child every month.
4. Parents are to do something every month that demonstrates your unflinching faith in Christ.
5. Married couples--with your spouse, consciously do something each month to unify and strengthen your marriage.
6. As a ward let us be self sufficient in finding and taking family names to the temple.
7. Let us fervently sing the songs of Zion in our worship services each week. (Interesting eh?)

I was particularly struck by items 4 and 5, and am including the rest of the information included in the newsletter regarding that challenge.


"Parents--do something every month that demonstrates your unflinching faith in Christ. What can you consciously do to show your faith? There are many things, but make an effort to demonstrate your faith. For example, tell a story in family home evening about an answer to your prayers; pay your tithes and discuss how you don't miss or need the money; be caught praying, reading the scriptures, or going to the temple; don't be found doing anything that would take away the the faith of your children. Don't be caught seeing an R-rated or immoral movie; don't be caught swearing; don't be caught lying. If you are found doing something wrong--demonstrate your faith by immediately admitting it, repent, say you are sorry and beg forgiveness. Let us each demonstrate our faith in Christ by doing something."

Kids learn so much through example that it makes perfect sense that we would consciously work provide a good example of what we believe for them to follow.

**Thoughts??**

Comment Window Tidbit: This was the first time I stayed home from church in so long I can't even remember!

Sunday Thoughts

Kristi's great post about advice to give the Young Women in her ward (you really must check it out and add your insights to the 51 comments she's already got) has got me thinking. This was my comment to her post:


I would advise them to focus on having balance in all areas of their life and to stop obsessing about their physical appearance. Gaining a testimony and being secure in their knowledge that they are a child of God will give them the confidence and beauty they need to carry them through the rest of their lives. Understanding this as a teenager would be an unbelievable asset!

Michelle and I talked about this last week during our lunch at the Musée d'Orsay cafe. We were talking about how painful it is to see teenagers feel so awkward and uncomfortable with themselves and what could be done to remedy that. My answer was pretty much the same as my comment from Kristi's post and the more I think about it the better I feel about the answer.

That just leaves the question of how to instill that spiritual knowledge and confidence into our children so they don't spend their lives looking for validation in all the wrong arenas? We go to church, we serve others, we pray together morning and night, we read scriptures together, we have Family Home Evening weekly, but there's no guarantee is there?

**Thoughts??**

Blow to the Ole Self Esteem

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I found this note written by Landon on Randy's night table while cleaning this morning, ouch for me.

**Are you the tougher parent?
Are you strict about bedtimes?
Would this have hurt your feelings?**

Spring Break--Day 1

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I asked the kids to make a list of possible activities for us to do over spring break this week since we aren't going on a trip (we never do). I suggested that they include daily naps, but that didn't go over so well. The weather forecast calls for nice weather Monday and Saturday, with rain and snow the rest of the days in-between (@#%!), so I wanted to take advantage of the good weather and make sure we got out.

We called and invited Randy to meet us at The Pizza Factory for lunch. It was an excellent way to kick off our Spring Break.

Our bread sticks were perfect!

Then the kids and I stopped by Seven Peaks to get our pictures taken for our 2009 Season Passes. Fortunately it was a quick process, because the extra step of having to go there, even though I purchased the passes online, is kind of a hassle.

Ah BYU in the spring time, it's so pretty! Our main outing for the day was to go to the BYU Art Museum to see the Walter Wick exhibit. I was thinking that I took the kids to BYU for a day out last year, but upon checking my blog archive it was almost 2 years ago already!

The exhibit was great! (Photos weren't allowed inside.) We spent an hour in the museum roaming around, discussing the huge I Spy photos and finding the objects hidden in the pictures. Other than it being about 5 degrees too warm for me (the curse of all museums for me) it was wonderful.


It was such a gloriously, beautiful spring day, that we all felt giddy. There were students laying out on the grass studying (and talking on their phones, texting and basically being totally plugged into something). I felt like a fuddy duddy parent shaking my head at the youth of today, but really, it was bizarre to think of every student having a phone and a laptop and an ipod like that. I'm glad that wasn't my experience back when it was my turn at BYU.


Do you see the cruel ice cream of despair in this photo? Whitney did. Her waffle cone broke when the scooper girl crammed the ice cream into it. You'd think this would be cause to celebrate, but noooo, it was cause for tears, pouting, and trashing of the broken cone. It was a proud parenting moment for sure.


Whitney pouted at a distance from us, so Landon and I enjoyed our ice cream in peace. I said to him, "Is she 8 years old?" and he said, "Seems more like 2." Amen to that. Seriously, what was she thinking? There is no way I would have coddled her or gotten her another waffle cone, so what was she hoping to accomplish?


We stopped by to see Collette in her new office. The kids remembered doing this last time, and even brought it up before I mentioned it.


They entertained themselves by drawing on her wipe board.


And she gave them an entire bag of Jelly Beans. I'm sure this will help them remember that we should visit her every time we go to BYU!


As the kids and I were leaving the BYU Bookstore I heard my name and saw these cute girls (Brooke and Ashley) and their kids. Apparently they both read my blog daily (what the??) but never comment (#$@!), so they recognized me and the kids. I am so glad they said something instead of maybe mentioning it in a comment later. It's always fun to meet and make new blogging friends. As we walked away Landon said, "We're famous!"


And because they hadn't had enough treats for the day, we stopped by Krispy Kreme Donuts to see what the kids could get for their good report cards. Um hello...6 donuts each!! Good grief! They were thrilled of course. (On a parenting note: I wouldn't have stopped for more treats, especially after Whitney's reaction to the waffle cone of despair, but we're never in Provo so I decided to take advantage of our location.)

Upon returning home, the kids played together outside for awhile, then we played SingStar together until it was time for them to go to bed. Not too shabby for an in-town Spring Break right?!

**Have you been to that exhibit?
Do you love I Spy Books?
Have you ever had a waffle cone of despair?
How would you have reacted to such a thing?
Have you ever been "recognized" from your blog?**

Sunday Thoughts

Whitney was assigned to give a talk in primary today about prayer. I talked to her about this several times during the week, but she seemed to have her own ideas about what she wanted to say so I didn't push the issue. Yesterday she drew pictures for the story she was going to tell. It was about a boy who played with his friend all day and was so tired afterward he wanted to go straight to bed, but his then his mother reminded him that needed to say a prayer before going to bed, after he did so he felt happy inside.



I thought this was a good story and I was happy that she drew several picture to go along with it (that's what makes it real for her), but I told her she should share a personal example of a time her prayers were answered. I typed up the story I thought she should share, but she was super hesitant to share it for some reason.

We went rounds over this as we got ready for church this morning. She cried, tried to say she doesn't like giving talks (that's too bad), and also said that she doesn't like telling stories about herself. Hmm.


I ended up explaining to her that everyone in our church has to give a talk at some point and that when we share our personal experiences our testimonies grow and we benefit those who listen as well. (This was definitely one of those teaching moments that really hit home with me.) She finally agreed to share an experience, but not the one I wanted her to share.


When the time came for her to give her talk I had no idea what she was going to end up saying. She read one tiny paragraph I'd written about prayer then told her story and showed her pictures and then closed her talk! I looked over at Landon just as he was saying to his friend, "She left out half a page of her talk!" I think she froze once she was up there because we hadn't typed up the story she had chosen to tell (that's because she chose it as we were walking out the door for church). I was a little disappointed because she had several really good, personal experiences with prayer that she could have shared but ended up keeping them to herself because she was afraid.


Anyone see any connections with Whitney's experience today? I'm actually really glad it happened this way because it gave us a chance to talk about the importance of recognizing when our prayers are answered, how we gain a testimony through these personal experiences, and the importance of sharing them with others. I don't know how much she understood, but our conversations this morning helped me to see things more clearly and will help me be a better mother and primary leader.

P.S. I'll have to share the story I wanted her to tell another day. Also, can I just tell you how giddy I am about being able to take pictures during primary?!

**What do you think??**