Inside Summertime

It has been a hot summer. We got a Zoo pass in the early Spring, and have been going to the zoo about once a week. Both kids love it, and both are old enough that I don't even bring the stroller anymore. We also go swimming and play in the sprinklers frequently. The kids ride their bikes, tote around their dolls, and color with chalk. They essentially only come inside to eat.

Here are our indoor pictures of the Summer. I rarely have our camera with me, so the majority of our pictures are taken with my sub-par camera feature on my used smart phone. Oh well! These kids will still have 1,000 times more pictures of their childhood than I did!

Lillie's preschool. I took this from the observation booth, where I spent a good 25 minutes MWF. Lillie had an exceptional experience.

We found out that Jack wasn't born with enamel on one of his back molars. When we went in for his routine 6 month check-up, they found that about 1/2 of his tooth was a cavity. Because Jack for some reason is slightly freaked out by his awesome pediatric dentist (who Lillie loves), he had to be sedated to do the filling. Turns out the cavity was so large, that when cleaning it out, one of the walls of his tooth broke. Now Jack is sporting an awesome crown! (cha-ching.) I'm thankful for our Pediatrician who told me to take him to the Dentist so young. I had always heard to not take them until they were 3, but apparently now they recommend you taking your kids in when they're 12 months old, or 6 months after they get their first tooth. If I had waited until Jack was three, he would have needed a full-out root canal. Thankfully the rest of his teeth look perfect with no signs of decay. And Lillie is still in the "No Cavity Club!" I sure love that JustForKiDDS place.

I suppose Jack is still 2. He's bound to do naughty things. Like this "mess" he made when eating his grilled cheese and tomato soup. Gee, thanks child.

 Jack is potty-trained all the way! If he stays dry for 6 more hours, he will have gone a full week with no accidents. We did a sticker reward chart this time around. I am still baffled that young children think a tiny smiley-face sticker is worth anything of value. After getting 7 stickers, he will get his "big boy bike." He is quickly outgrowing his red trike, and is pretty darned excited to get his 12" no-name-brand two wheeler with training wheels.

I had to post this picture because I never want to forget how a 4-year-old makes their bed. It absolutely DRIVES ME CRAZY to not fix it. I'm desperately trying to practice all my will-power by establishing some responsibility in her. She's always so proud of herself! I just have to shut the door very fast after I say, "Thank you, Lillie--Looks great!"

Did your heart rate increase after seeing this picture? Kids these days.

Lillie got her "Maggie Doll" from Grandma Diane for Christmas. Lillie and Maggie go everywhere, even on a train to the North Pole to update Santa on her new Christmas list. Lately, Lillie wants a pink power-wheels car. I keep telling her that Santa can't possibly fit that through a chimney.

I can't believe my children are growing up so fast! It's weird to not have any more diapers to change, high chairs to take up space, or strollers to push around. Lillie will be 5 in about 2 weeks, Jack will be 3 in 2 months. When did this happen? We're planning on moving in about 2-4 weeks (depending on when we close) and are putting Jack in a twin-sized bed. He doesn't sleep well on his little toddler bed, and I suppose it's time I realize that he's too big for a crib-sized mattress. I just want him to stay little forever!
Jack weighs 31 pounds now, and is pretty much 50-60% for everything. Lillie is still 95% head, 90% height, and 50% weight (41 pounds). Even at birth those have been her percentages. It sure is fun to have intelligent conversations with my children, teach them about common things, and see them grow up.

One recent conversation:

Lillie let go of a balloon in the sky and watched it float higher and higher.
Lillie: Where is my balloon going to go?
Me: Way up in the sky, maybe even to the moon!
Lillie: No, it's going to heaven.
(pause)
Lillie: Maybe when I get to heaven, Jesus will give me all of my balloons back.

Alright, maybe this doesn't constitute an intelligent conversation, but a conversation none the less.

I'll leave you with a conversation I overheard last Thursday between Lillie and her cousin Alyse:

Lillie: Alyse, do you see those mountains over there?
Alyse: Yes, Lillie. I can see them. I know.
Lillie: Well do you know what? I forgot to tell you something.
Alyse: No?
Lillie: My Daddy rode his bike all the way up that big, big, big mountain!
Alyse: Lillie, my Mommy went up there and put all those windmills on it.
Lillie: Oh. I never knowed that.
Alyse: Oh.
Lillie: And Alli and Tyson and Brycen and baby... Conner, no baby CARTER live over there too.
Alyse: Who are those people, Lillie?
Lillie: Oh my gosh, Alyse! Just... never mind.

100

So, I'll admit that the first time I heard Dustin say that he wanted to train to do a Century Ride, in my head I though, "Umm, okay. Just go out and ride your bike for 100 miles." I don't know if this plays into my inborn female-based lack of spacial reasoning, but 100 miles didn't seem like it would be that hard on a bike. I mean, really? You need to train to do something like this??

BEFORE YOU CLICK "Comment" and terrorize me for thinking such insane thoughts, I need you to understand that I was brought to the depths of humility (sort of) and realized the error in my thinking. To put 100 miles into perspective, I drive to Rexburg from Idaho Falls pretty frequently. This trip takes me about 40 minutes each way, and adds roughly 50-60 miles to our less-than-fancy Accord daily. to complete this century ride, Dustin would have to ride his bike from our house to Rexburg, back, and then AGAIN to Rexburg and back. That would take me over 2 hours even to drive!! He could also have ridden his bike to the Malad pass, or to West Yellowstone.

So, after understanding how far this distance really is (stupid, me), I am nothing short of impressed. Dust has been religiously riding early in the mornings five to six days per week for a couple of months. He's also training for his first marathon September 15th, and fits in some pretty long runs on the days he's not riding. He and his boss are training to do LOTOJA next Fall, and I really think he can do it.
He's a freaking machine.

Here's a pic of him coming in on Saturday. He finished in 5 hours and 52 minutes, and averaged 17 MPH even with hills, water stops, and insane wind speeds. Plus, it was bloody hot outside.

Gee, thanks random "tween" for choosing an awesome spot to find some shade and take a seat.

And one more shout out to this organization who put on the entire event for a more-than-worthy cause. They had a carnival for the kids that lets the younger kids slightly cheat to win, a bouncy house, face painting, catered food from Texas Roadhouse, 105.5 the Hawk and Z103 blasting all the coolest, latest jams of today, and even had snow cones and cotton candy-- all free with entry! We (me and the tikes) participated in the Family Ride (a whole 2 miles) which had Otter pops and name brand fruit snacks at the water station. The kids loved it, and loved getting their trophies at the finish line. We're planning on participating every year.

P.S. after doing spell-check on this post, I realized I've been spelling the word 'awesome' wrong my entire life. Wonderful.

Haggai

In leu of this being my very last week taking Old Testament II, I thought I would post one of my small assignments from this week. Go ahead and read Haggai (page 1166). It's only 2 chapters long, but He has a very significant message that I fould very valuable.

 A.The importance of the temple (Chapter 1): Haggai tries to explain to the people that they are in need of many great blessings. They "have sown much, but bring in little, ye eat, but ye have not enough..." Their wages are being "put into a bag of holes" and they are not receiving, or perhaps they are losing, the great blessings they are entitled to by not rebuilding their temple.

B. The people's response to Haggai's invitation to build a temple: They were fearful (Haggai 1: 12... "and they did fear before the Lord.") Even after this fear, they "came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God." This is a broad scale, but I suppose that on a smaller level, those same blessings could be revoked from my own life if I were to discontinue attending the temple. Or, perhaps, I could be receiving more strength than before.

C.

1. What blessings the people will be granted: Spirit to remain with them, He will give peace, greater dividends, the people will flourish.

2. How the temple is a place of peace: Great peace will come upon the people because they will be protected from other lands, armies, other persecutions, and from famine or any other hindering curses. These same ideas are prevalent today when we attend the temple. We are given a literal protection when we wear the Holy Garments (as well as a daily, constant reminder of those covenants we have entered into), and we are also given a stronger spirit to help us discern between right and wrong. There are many forms of peace, but it would be difficult to describe a temple without using that word: peace.

After our children went to bed tonight, my Dustin and I sat down and had a good 15 minute discussion about this assignment. We read Haggai together again, and spoke about how these blessings and cursings can and are still relevant today. We are both going to commit to attending the temple with better attitudes with a more thorough understanding of the importance of frequent temple attendance.

I have worked as a housekeeper in the Salt Lake and Idaho Falls temples. Both are busy temples, and both have many patrons  that come to do work each day. Even with those busy attendance numbers, I found out that of those temple reccommend holders in the Idaho Falls Temple District, the average CURRENT recommend holder only attends the tmple 2.3 times per year. This number was very alarming and absolutly astounding to me. We can do better than that! I am in awe of how many people are deliberatly neglecting the peace that they could have in attending the temple. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I almost feel addicted to the feeling I feel when I enter the temple... even at 10PM! Even when I'd be vacuuming a basement locker room, I still felt peace. I cannot believe how hard the adversary is working to keep us away from the temple. He must also be aware of the the great blessings and added strength and peace that comes when we attend.

In my most difficult of times in my life, especially the busiest, I have always known the source of my strength to keep me pushing along. It seemed crazy that I was able to find time each week to attend a session with young children, nursing infants, full-time school, and work at night, but those weeks when I slacked (thinking I was spending those two hours doing something more worthwhile) were the weeks that I was left stressed and overwhelmed. Going to the temple is a sacrifice, and it can be very difficult to get to, but I have never heard of someone leaving that wished they hadn't gone to the temple that day.

So if you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, tired, lonely,  tempted, betrayed, depressed, unloved,  victimized, or discouraged--work hard to get to your temple.

“As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’” --President Monson

Listen to a Prophets voice on this topic here.

Cars Underwear

It was the most unexpected event of my life.

Jack potty-trained himself.

SERIOUSLY?!?!? This 2-year old, while cute and mostly adorable, has figured out how to torture his mother in most every way. He is constantly throwing things, running outside naked, pouring 20-oz water bottles out in the car, dumping cups of juice in our flower pots and killing my petunias and strawberries, swiping his Nerf sword at me and saying, "I kill Mommy!!" (okay, that IS weird... and I should probably seek counsiling or something), flushing important artifacts down the toilet--including articles of clothing, breaking various electronics, frantically scribbling on the walls and furniture when I'm not looking, hiding food under the couch cusions, getting out of bed atleast 13 times per night, throwing full-out-embarassing tantrums at least three times per sacrament meeting, and so much more.

However, last week he took his diaper off, came up to me (while holding himself in an awkward manner) and shouted, "Pop-tee!" (translation: Potty) then ran into the bathroom, hopped up on the pot, and peed. It was a victory for stressed out mothers everywhere.

While I don't expect him to be perfect at this, I must admit, I have not set timers, given reminders, or done anything for that matter and he's only had three accidents in six days. It's a blessed miracle. 

Boy, do I absolutly love and adore that 2-year-old.

Sneak Peak at Mother's Day pics.

For Mother's Day this year, Dustin got me a gift certificate to one of my very favorite local photographers, Katie Wells. I have been drooling over her vision and artistry for photgraphy for years. She has an at-home, natural light studio and is the best with kids. This was one of the last pictures we took that day, and she got Lillie and Jack (and me) to smile at the same time. Incredible talent, I tell you. (means we have yet to ever take a family picture without atleast ONE of our kids screaming) This also might mean I might get to change my facebook profile pic.

I pick up the 4x6 proofs and CD with high resolution images on Thursday. I can't wait to see how all the others turned out!

And don't worry, Dustin is in them also. :)

A happy marriage or a crappy marriage.

If there's one thing that I've learned in the last six years, it would be that Dustin and I can either have a happy marriage or a crappy marriage. It's a simple choice that I have had to make hundreds of times in six years. When I put Dustin's needs, wants, wishes before my own, then we are happy. When I start getting selfish, nagging, or critical, our marriage starts to feel a little crappy.
Dustin and I read a book by Elder Hafen entitled Covenant Hearts just after we were married. After reading that book together, we decided that we wanted to have a covenant marriage instead of a contractual marriage. What's the difference, you ask?

A contractual marriage is when both spouses give 50%. A covenant marraige is when both spouses give 100%.

I'm grateful that all of our problems are solveable, instead of perpetual. We are both excellent problem solvers, which is the best skill you can have in a marriage. We also have the same views on how to raise our family, and how to treat our marraige.

Here's what works for us (not in any order):

• We both attend the temple every month, or more. There have been some months that have been difficult, but we haven't ever missed a month. Even when I was nursing, we still made it a priority to have me go and do initiatory or baptisms for even a 1/2 hour.
• We pray together each day.
• We read scriptures individually, as a family, and as a couple.
• We have FHE every Monday night. Even before we had kids, we still had an official "opening song, prayer, lesson, activity, treat" and after 312 Monday nights, we've only missed 2.
• We help sustain each other (and remind eachother) in our callings
• We cancelled our TV service. We spend much more quality time together talking, playing games, going to the park, riding bikes, reading scriptures, exersicing, and playing with our kids on the floor now.
• We go on a date each week. It's expensive with babysitters, but is the best investment.
• Each night, we discuss our Best and Worst parts of our day.
• We rely 100% on eachother. We are perfectly happy and content being by ourselves!
• I add extra ice to Dustin's drinks, and he makes sure to exclude mustard from any sandwich for me.
• We sometimes go to bed with unresolved issues. Sometimes a good night's sleep really helps.

So, in our "6-year-wisdom" we probably know nothing. But, so far, things have been wonderful, spontanious, and joyful. I've told people before, I got lucky and married someone who I genuinly get along with. But in reality, we follow what the Prophet's have taught us about marriage, and it seems to be working, especially when the hard times come.

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.

I love you, dear! I pray each day that I can find ways to serve you more, and be a better wife for you. I love the life we've built together, the covenants we've made together, and the wierd, obnoxious memories we have together.
Love, Erika

Other reading I recommend:
Covenant Marriage

Charity-lens.

Charity.

I bet if I truly was Christ-like and had charity, I would never lose my temper, be impatient with the idiot driver in the cool purple intrepid, or blame my 75% graded assignment on the teacher, instead of on myself. Everyone would be much happier and much more compassionate.

So, apparently all I need is charity. But, with me being in the 'natural man' state, charity doesn't come easily or automatically.

C.S. Lewis said this:
When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity: I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediatly springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off guard... [yet] surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is. Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth. If there are rats in the celler you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. Apprently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always there in the cellar of my soul.

In this 'natural man' state, resentment and vindictiveness come much easier than charity. But what I'm realizing, is that all of those negative reactions are a choice. And so is charity.

Obviously, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of charity. Perhaps if we also had the "charity lens" and could see everyone as Jesus, or as Heavenly Father, sees them, we wouldn't be so judgemental.

Here's what I used to think charity was: small acts of kindness. I thought that by smiling at strangers, or holding the door for a distressed mother with five kids in tote was being charitable. Unfortunatly, in my head I would think, "That mom would look great with a different hair cut. Or a straitener for that matter." My charity was only outwardly. If I really was able to see that mother as Heavenly Father does, I would maybe think, "That woman has sacrificed everything to do what's right and raise five beautiful children. Day in and day out she gets up early, goes to bed late, cleans her home, makes meals, and makes sure each child knows they are loved."

Cheesy? maybe. But maybe that's what charity really is. We all know how it feels to have felt the critical, negative, carping, nit-picking, fault-finding, and grousing attitude that comes easily to the natural man. It hurts. Anytime that happens to me, I also want to say, "If you only knew me better."

So how do I aquire more charity? I think that comes individually. But I can tell a big difference day to day when I'm consistanly praying for it.

Charity is the culminating gift of our spiritual seeking. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
(1st Corinthians 13:13)