First Family Temple Trip

 Growing up I always had an LDS temple nearby that I could attend and enjoy service.  For the first time for me, I had to plan a day trip of it to make sure that Josh and I made our goal of monthly attendance this year.  There are several temples within 3-4hour drive radius of IN (Indianapolis is in construction but not finished yet).  My pick of this weekends' excursion was based on available sessions to participate in.  We set out Friday night once Josh was off work and stayed in a hotel hoping to get an early start on the next day.  While planning, I of course found something for each of the parents to do with the kiddos while the other was inside the temple.  So - it was of to Detroit.

 Although I would have loved to visit Motown Museums, my first thoughts were of kid activities and there was a special 'Day out with Thomas" at the Henry Ford museum. I booked a slot on the train.

In truth, my kiddos don't know much of Thomas the tank engine because I don't think we have seen more than 1 movie with him in it. They were mostly just excited about riding on a train.  The excitement wore off as we realized that mommy had not packed near enough warm clothing for an open ride in a train in 40 degree weather.  Still, troopers that they are, the were as happy as could be while shivering.

 We rode all around Greenfield Village, a themed historical park for learning about inventions in the same time period as Ford created the Model T.  Which, they had rides in really Model T's around the village as well (for an extra fee of course).  We will explore Greenfield more on the next temple trip.

As it were, my kids were funsicles and we moved and rapidly as we could from one heated building to the next to get the roundlee'  of stamps to get a prize from our 'Day out with Thomas.'  One of the dumb stamps was to get a picture with Sir Topham Hat, which meant waiting in line on the sidewalk, not heated, while it started to drizzle.  I did try to convince the kids it was not necessary to get the stamps for a prize but they were stuck to the idea of a free prize (oh heaven help us fight the 'free' advertising gigs!) which ended up being a 'Find Thomas' poster.

Josh attended the temple in the morning and we swapped after lunch together. I was wise enough to cash in our day pass to Greenfield toward a family membership at the Henry Ford so we can go back each month we go to Detroit until we have seen it all.  It is all pretty impressive.  Josh got some pics of the kid at the car history portion of the museum.  The kids were happy with it.  Josh and I were/are still a little frantic but hopefully came home with a little more patient persepective.

Manly rewards

We have been working with Danny since he got potty trained on staying dry through the whole night.  The biggest problem is not that he is not well trained, just that when Danny goes to sleep, he is asleep!  We have tried several different methods to try and take Danny pee after he has gone to sleep, but he is so limp and unresponsive, nothing worked.  Until one day Josh found the magic key - remote boat!  Somehow Josh got Danny excited about having his own remote control boat.  Danny was very specific as to what type of boat it ought to be and after we explained to him that he would need to keep his pull-up dry for 3 nights in a row before he got the boat, the boy was motivated.  Whereas we couldn't get him to release a drop in his drowsy state before, with the mention of 'motor boat' the streams came freely.  Gratefully, we have a beautiful park just two mini-blocks from our home with a wonderful lake in which Danny can chase the ducks to his hearts content (as long as he has kept his pull-up dry that night).

 Here the boys are having fun driving the boat against the wind toward the geese, who were easily safe on the shore before the boat even got near where they once were.

 There was one late target, an albino duck that was partially cautious but mostly curious and the boat had a bit of a chance at getting the duck.  As you can see, Josh was more intent on the whole operation than Danny.  Danny was just happy to have the controller in his hands.

On our way home from the park, Josh realized that the boat was mostly for him to play with and that the kids were more happy with playing tag or hide-and-seek with him and he thus swore off buying electronic toys for the kids again until they grew out of the hide-and-seek phase. ;)

The tour Before

I did a little walk-about the house to get the shots of the place mostly without boxes and with the 'original' look of the house.  First is the living room with a fireplace and piano nook.

This is the original homes' dining room off the kitchen but then there is an addition (straight ahead) that created a family room.  Now we have the 'command center' right of the kitchen and literally in the center of the home with the computer and kids' learning supplies.

This is the bathroom as we first met it.  Of course we have started the renovations and that is an adventure story to come.  We did have a functional tub and toilet so that was nice.  I hadn't take so many baths for many years!  Makes one slow down and enjoy the water a bit more each day.  Wished I had had some of J&J lavendar bathtime soap to help with those evening relaxation baths ;).

This is the original 2nd bedroom which is now a walk through room into the kids' bedroom.  We are using it as the play room off their room which is so fun to have.  I don't know how it could function as a real bedroom with a walk through to the next.  Hence I think 3 bedroom house may be false advertising. Still we have more than enough room!The fancy mural on the wall with Free Willy's tail is gonna go although it has been really entertaining. Perhaps the previous occupants had used the room as a sailor's museum.

Here's the kids' room fit in all it's glory of printed wood panelling.  

Kitchen.  It was pushed out beyond the original walls into the U shape that is towering out over the 'family room' addition.  It does have a lot of new space.  Of course I will be changing it soon ;)

This is the 'entertainment room' push out addition on the back of the house that gives the kitchen more space.  We use it as the breakfast area. 

So there is the basic tour of the house.  The layout is confusing to think of unless you think of the original square of the house and then two push-out additions on the back of the house.  This is just the main floor.  We have a full un-finished basement that houses the laundry and a lot of storage space and then the upstairs is a two bedroom apartment that is already rented.  We did buy it as a duplex to help pay off student loans for the next several years and then the payback will be getting to add the upstairs to our home once we are at 0 debt!  Upgrade our house without even moving.

Travel here part 2

Later on in our travels we were pulled off the road by the very well posted diversion of Meramec Caverns.  I absolutely loved this place.  Or course, if I hadn't been an English/Theatre major in college I would have gone the geology route.  The Earth is fascinating.  Especially all the things it can do under the surface.  We took a guided tour through that took about an hour and the kiddos didn't even complain at all.  The tour was made all the more exciting for the old west robbers tales of Jesse James and his band.

The formation the kiddos are standing in front of is a grapevine table.  Such a formation is only found one other place in the world - Italy. And to think, if it weren't for all those fabulous billboards along the Interstate I would have completely missed such a wonder hidden deep in the Ozark mountains of Missouri.

After playing underground for a couple of hours I pushed on the driving through so we drove in very late to our home in IN that the Easter bunny might be able to deliver the goods.

The kids were just as excited that the Easter bunny found us as they were to run around all sorts of box obstacles in our new house that had such a funny layout.

Danny and the Penske truck (which did the real delivering)

I was so pleased that the girls were adament on having Easter bonnets and we sang the song several times together that day.  Wished I had had one also.

And this was my first impression of our home.  Boxes.  Our boxes in rooms.  Our boxes in very filthy rooms.  

I spent days scrubbing floors while doing minimal  unpacking (we still were in negotiations about the purchase of the home, which are also resolved now).  I was satisfied after using horrendous (and toxic) amounts of Ajax and Windex all-purpose cleaner on every surface our belongings touched that this house really was going to be fantastic.  And it is shining up quite nicely.  There will be more 'before and after' shots to come.

A moment from my day....

... which illustrates yet again that my kids are wonderful!

As I was painting in the front room I gleefully listened to the pretend game that was happening in the other room.  Faith and Danny had gotten out the chess game from the game cupboard and since I have not yet taught them how to (kinda kid like) play chess, they made up their own game with the pieces which sounded something like this:

"Ah!  Now we are together in a choir and we shall sing.
'Praise to the Lord!!'
That was all splendid."
"Now you can bring yours choir over to my tower and my brave knight will defend you from the bad guys --schwing, schwing!"


"Praise to the Lord!!"


"Oh yes! I saved you.  And your singing is lovely."


Viv eventually joined in the game and it got more animated.  I loved how happily they were imagining a wonderful world of music and chivalry.  All without complaining that I was, yet again, painting rather than playing with them.  Only a bit more trim in the main rooms and I have done with painting for a couple more days.

And as another remembrance of today that was wonderful - we had a FHE and the kids were happy.  The lesson was on Jesus' teaching in stories - precisly the "Wise man and Foolish Man" from Matthew 7; better known as a favorite song with actions from the children's hymn book.  My favorite part of the lesson were the responses from Viv and Danny.

Viv's response was always cheerfully and much like a lightbulb "The Holy Ghost!"   Doesn't matte what the question was.  Boy has she got the Sunday School answers down.

Danny's response were always positive "I'm wise."  "I'm a good man."  "I am a prophet, you know."  (When corrected that he was named after a prophet, he responds without a blink) "Yep.  I am named after TWO prophets actually cuz I am like them."  It is certainly relatable to call him my little Peter Pan - I don't ever want him to grow up and he has that cockiness that drove Hook insane!

Lest we think Faith was not participitory, she was there, just cuddled in a blanket waiting for the other two more animated ones to settle down and then she would give me the correct response to the question.  I fear that she is growing up now and starting to move past the childish happiness of family night together.  She was very enthusiastic about playing "Mr Fox, what time is it?"  which is the new age version of 'Mother, May I?"  And they got a great kick out of my making up backwards steps and sideways steps and twirling steps so they could never get to me until Faith finally bargained (after I had told them it was time go to back to the starting point, and they went back obediently) "Momma, how about you just let us get to you and then I will say that you can be Mr. Fox again."

Oh I love them, and it is great to spend the time loving them now while they still very much love me back.  While making dinner Danny kept reaching up to me.  I told him I would no longer pick him up like a little baby and he looked up at me and said "Then come down here and give me hugs!"  I love them all.

On the road.....driving away

That was the last look at cactus and any 'sign' of Phoenix. No, I was not too sad. Although, I admit that as we drove North toward Payson and passed a river bed and such I thought, 'Nancy, you are a dunce, there was a whole lot more you could have explored that you didn't. I will do better this time around ;)

Traveling with the kids was a blast! Most people don't believe me when I say that traveling with a 5,4,and 3 year old is really a great time. Faith, Viv, and Danny are the coolest travel buddies. We color and sing and make up stories. And we have the fun time of stopping frequently, at our own whim to explore neat places. Our first afternoon of travel we went on a mountain walk in Payson and then slept in New Mexico. The next day we stopped a one of the best dinosaur museums I have been too in New Mexico. I have always wondered about the utility of NM as a state. Come to find out that some of the greatest geological finds related to dinosaurs are in New Mexico. AND, this tiny little town houses a community college that is one of the only places in the world that bronze casts dino bones!




Since the bones are bronze cast you can touch them and get a good idea of scale. They also had a dig pit for the kids and a mini- dino for a ride. The layout was just so simple and informative I felt like I learned more about actual pre-historic history than ever before! Never under-estimate the power of po-dunk towns.



And then we were in Texas and found this gem off the side of the road. Cadillac Ranch. Danny is still asking why that crazy rich guy planted the cars in the field.



It is a joy having boys - the girls were interested in the cars while we were there but the image is seared into Danny's little head. So we tried on a bit of "Texas" to see if it fit him right....

more from the road trip to come.

Farewell Fun

As the last week slowly drug on in Arizona we had plenty of time to play at parks, ride bikes, and paly with best friend Dusti. It was a blissful end for a mini-life in Arizona.

Signed Off

This morning we put our fine 'John Hancock's on some significant documents which in essence said - GOODBYE HOUSE.

So lovely to have lived here. So blessed to have sold it too.

If all goes well, the kids and I drive away in a few hours and Josh loads the truck tomorrow to follow.

HP: Parenting REVEIW

I really should have taken the FULL month of March to focus on Parenting rather than just the last half for all the amazing that I learned in those two weeks! Of course I will continue, but I thought I would share some of the lovely insights I learned from others.

As I reached out to others for their advice on parenting- I felt as though the major benefit was not only their wisdom, but feeling connected to a whole network of wonderful people. Half the battle of being a parent is just plain feeling hopeless and helpless as though there is no way personally you can be that parent that your kids need. Remembering, and connecting with, all the others that are in similar situations feels like getting a bungee support system that can help you bounce back more readily.

Here's the fantastic advice I received from others:

-Thoughtful observations from others may reveal what you think as justifiable parenting is still being rather unfair to your kiddos. It is worth having a second pair of eyes on the situation.

-involve your kiddos in everything and don't treat them as after-thoughts in your pursuits

-offer correction privately, quietly, and lovingly

- to effectively persuade: use your voice kindly, smile and explain truths, values, and laws that we all need to honor

- we cannot use our influence in a forceful way - even after we have done all to explain, coerce and demand things from our children they still have the choice and those choices can and may hurt my heart as a parent, but exersicing an overbearing arm will not be to any better effect

-Recommended biblio from my former nannying family more in the teenage years (I will certainly hold on to these for the upcoming drama with my girls!

1)The Wonder of Girls, Understanding the Hidden Nature of our Daughter - Micheal Gurian

2) Hold On to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers - Gordon Neufeld, Ph.d and Gabor Mate, M.D.

3) Queen Bees adn Wannabes, Helping your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and the New Realities of Girl World - Rosalind Wiseman

4) My Teenage Were-Wolf, A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence - Lauren Kessler

- Listen better, to the effect of hearing all they may not be saying and understanding what really is important to them.

-Pray an awful lot

And from my own study in "5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges" by Richard and Linda Eyre -- Remember that these kids are God's children and that He is the perfect parent. Follow His parenting examples and rely on His advice. The book really is a must read.

Others on my favorite parenting books list: