My Time to Shine!

I had to laugh at the way Sami hogged the microphone today. Meredith, their nine-year-old "big sister," stood in between Allie and Sami at the podium, Allie and Sami standing on small wooden stools Meredith's mom Sarah had brought. After situating the stools, I thought Sami was too far away from the microphone, so I moved her slightly closer to Meredith. Then I made my way to the piano.

Mistake.

I sat on the piano bench, and looked up at the girls. Sami leaned over onto Meredith, her mouth practically eating the microphone. I whispered, "Sami!" trying to get her to back up, but realized I would need to actually yell for her to hear me... which wouldn't go over well with the bishopric and stake president sitting right in front of me.

I would get fired... Well, actually, considering the shortage of pianists in the ward, I probably wouldn't have gotten fired. I probably could have yelled... if it weren't for the whole "inviting the Spirit" thing.

But I could tell people were tickled just to see them up there, so I let it go. Kevin's parents had even made the drive from the Church ranch just to hear their grandbabies sing.

I played the introduction to the song, which was "Life is O'erflowing with Beautiful Things," a song that had been printed in the July issue of The Friend. Allie and Sami sang the first verse, Meredith sang the second verse, and all three girls sang the last verse. I chuckled to myself at every crack of Sami's voice or every gasp of air mid-word-- her mouth never left that microphone. Allie and Meredith both sang purely and beautifully, too, but it was just harder to hear them.

And then they were done! We walked back to our seats, and I looked out to see smiles and wet eyes. I, too, through my soft chuckles behind the piano, had fought the tears at times.

In spite of Sami's "American Idol" moment, their sweet angel voices had truly invited the Spirit. I had felt it, and so did many people in the congregation.

I told the girls later after church in the stairwell under Dad's classroom how that's what their sweet singing had done, how that is why Heavenly Father blessed them with that musical ability-- to bless others' lives, to allow the Holy Ghost to testify to them and others that Jesus is the Christ.

But before I could say anything else, Sami hit her head on the railing.

Allie on Fashion

Rebekah Jarvis, our Primary chorister, called me this evening. Here's what went down in Primary today...

Ben, one of Allie's classmates, and Laura, his younger sister, came waltzing into Primary a little bit late. Laura was wearing a poofy, colorful, flowery dress that caught Allie's eye. As Ben wandered over to his seat, Allie turned to him.

With all the seriousness of an adult, she told him, "Ben, your sister has great fashion sense."

As I told Kev about this after I got off the phone with Rebekah, with Allie sitting there with us, she smiled, "Laura was very stylish today!"

Hate to say this, Laura, but considering some of the outfits Allie puts together for herself, that's not saying much for ya.

The Coolest T-shirt Ever

Like I said in my last post, we went to the Manatees baseball game last Saturday evening. Halfway through the game Kevin laughed to himself, and pointed out some guy's t-shirt.

Okay... I want it.

In the Past (half) Month...

In just over a week, Allie will be starting Kindergarten. We talk about it everyday-- Allie both nervous and anxious to meet her teacher and make new friends, Kevin and I terrified to "throw her to the wolves." We can't believe this time has already come. I've been trying to hide my anxieties about letting her go-- and I'm a pretty good actress, so she hasn't suspected. My own elementary school experience wasn't all that hot-- I got teased a lot, by the cool girls who felt threatened by my cute face and took advantage of my shy nature, and also by the older kids who felt threatened by my intelligence. And it's not that I was the smartest kid in the school (I was far from that), but every year I was put in a combination class, with half the class being from the grade ahead. The majority of the older kids that acknowledged my existence were just plain mean to me. I really just thought I was a dork. Me! A dork!


Okay, zip it.

I think my best memories seem to involve swinging on the swings (by myself) while singing the theme song to The Neverending Story, making up routines on the monkey bars with my friends to the theme song of Kids Incorporated, and competitive recess tether ball matches...

Huh. Just thinking about those last few good memories just made me feel better. Who'd 'a' thunk it?

Allie's a spunky girl-- much more confident and sure of herself than I was. She'll be fine. She'll be more than fine-- she'll be great. In fact, she will love it.

Allie and I spent an hour and a half on Saturday afternoon at Target, filling up a shopping cart with all the stuff she'll need-- a Tinkerbell backpack, a Barbie lunchbox, sneakers that fit her, etc. Sami was pretty upset that she didn't get to come, too. I tried to tell Sami that she didn't need all that stuff for preschool (she'll be starting the week after Allie)-- that they'd be giving her a bag to bring, and that she already had shoes. She was still mad.

Both girls are also signed up for dance later this month. Allie will move up a level, and Sami gets to start in beginning ballet. When Sami was potty training, I had promised her that she could take dance like Allie only if she could wear "big girl underwear." She did it, before she even turned three in March. So, I gotta pay up now.

Ballet shoes, tap shoes, leotards, tights... More money to spend. Eeek.

But more cute recitals to enjoy, and more great memories to make, and more fun skills to develop. Priceless.

But as for happenings within the past couple weeks (since my last update was halfway into July anyway), our ward held a Pioneer Day celebration, Pioneer Day being a Utah holiday commemorating the arrival of the Latter-Day Saint pioneers into the Salt Lake valley back in July of 1847. The party was complete with a chili cook-off, an apple pie contest, singing by the Primary children, and karaoke. I didn't win anything in the chili cook-off, but I won the gold pie tin (1st place) in the apple pie contest. Yeah, I can't believe that one either-- makes me laugh. Allie was proud, cheered for me louder than anyone, and tackled me with hugs. "Yay, Mom! You won!"

She didn't even eat any of it-- only wanted ice cream.

She did look pretty cute wearing an old pioneer-ish dress my aunt Rahn had made for me when I was about five years old. She was really excited to wear it. It's too bad I didn't have one for Sami to wear. I told her that in a couple years, she would fit the dress, while Allie would be too big for it. That made her feel better, and she got over it.

Other than that, things haven't been extremely exciting around here. Kevin steam cleaned the carpet this weekend, and I took the kids to the zoo so he could do it. Woo hoo? Umm... we went to the Manatees baseball game Saturday night, since we got in free with Kevin's Harris badge that night. We were only there for an hour, since our kids can't last longer than that. Of course, I forgot to bring the camera to both activities, so I have nothing to show for it.

Oh! I thought many of you would be proud of me on this one. I played the organ for Sacrament Meeting two weeks in a row! Nikki recently taught me how to work the organ (which is what was intimidating me about playing in the first place-- all those stops and buttons...), and Linda the ward organist was out of town. She asked me to sub for her, and instead of playing the piano, I thought I'd stretch my comfort zone and use the organ. I wasn't great or anything, and I didn't even attempt the pedals, but still... Well, I'm proud of myself anyway. Now it's not scary anymore.

Watch, now I'll get called as the ward organist... since my other two music callings aren't enough.

Patience... an update

These are comments I received after putting this post on Facebook...

“Specifically on the getting dressed issue.....when my oldest (now 20) was about 4 I had the same problem. Was still in the AF at the time and had to get the 2 children to the babysitter and get to work on time every morning, so dressing in a timely manner was crucial. Finally, one cool winter morning when he was again running around in his underwear oblivious to the need to dress, I told him when we were leaving. I told him if he wanted to stay warm and comfortable he would need to dress. He didn't. I took him to the babysitters in his underwear. I beleive he had a towel to keep the chill off for the 20 min ride. He was mortified. Never had another problem.” – Tamsey Audet
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“Krissy you totally crack me up! Patience has never been one of my greater talents so I know what you mean. This has worked with my kids. I tell them once, the second time is a warning and the third is a time-out or loss of privlege (depending on age, kid, and situation). The trick though is being 100 % consistent so they clearly understand that you are serious and they know what to expect if they don't listen. After a few days of it my kids responded by the 1st request (most of the time). Good luck, once you figure out what will work for your kids, they'll move into another stage to test your patience yet again :)” – Andrea Curtis
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“First of all you are NOT the only mom out there loosing her cool....I swear I have the patience of a saint when it comes to other people's children but put mine in a room and listen to them fight for even a second and I have lost it. I have tried a few things with my children and for a time they work. 1st attempt at teaching obedience/consequence we had a chart....Get caught doing good= a sticker, get caught not doing good=loss of sticker. At the end of the week they could go to the prize drawer and pick something based on stickers earned. 2nd one that we are using right now is the simple Green, Yellow, Red card system. It is very visual and instead of me yelling constantly and feeling terrible I change it, tell them and then they have the chance to earn back their green card. But the Red card results in a loss of privlege or a time out. Seems to be working...for now. :)” – Lori Weston Orton
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“Krissy ~ your children are wonderful! I always told Beth "if you have to choose to be good at home or away, choose away. You are loved here unconditionally." In all my years of daycare and observing children they tend to misbehave where they are most comfortable. That really should be inside the home. But on to your question: I got so aggrevated with Beth dawdling and ignoring me that I would take a random time and say get dressed. After her taking FOREVER I would say "never mind - it's to late now. I wanted to take you to the park/beach/movies/whatever". I always had a little something planned. Then occasionally she would do everything in a timely manner and we would go out for ice cream or something planned. If she asked why she had to clean up her room I would say because I asked you to. If she did it immediatly, I would say "Oh, you did that so quick. I thought it would take longer. Now we have time to read your favorite book or bake cookies or whatever I was planning... to do anyway. (I've never run out of space on a post before - I should have just sent an email). Finally - everyday, several times a day, I would pray that I would be the mother she needed and be able to teach her and guide her to best benefit her. You know your children better than anyone. If you stop and pray each time you will not only find more patience, you will know what to do for each of your children at any given moment to teach and guide them. Love you and your wonderful family.” – Jennifer Westbrook
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“well, i mostly whack mine...just kidding. I like Jennifer's post. I remember clearly one time sitting with Julia and before i spoke I prayed "Jesus, please tell me what she needs" and the next thing I said was "I love you". Her shoulders just relaxed so much and that conversation went well. I wish I had prayed more often but I don't know that the answer would have come so quickly every time. Now that Julia is 13, I should be in prayer 24/7...! Lots of arguments and struggles. And I do think that I got slack after awhile on consequences when she was younger and I am suffering for that now. Train up a child in the way she should go...Hang in there, momma! You're wonderful! Will you be my mommy?” – Allison Cobb
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“Andrea Curtis' method is how we raised our kids. It's the follow thru that wears you out - but is critical - CRITICAL.

In PMG it says patience is the capacity to endure - or delay - trouble, opposition or sufferning without becoming angry, frustrated or anxious. "Patience is related to hope and faith - you must wait for the Lord's promised blessing to be fulfilled."

So hang in there. :-)” – John A. Price
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“ok, I like what Jennifer wrote, however if I told maddy to do something and she didn't do it so I told her oh well, then we can't do what I had planned, she would throw herself into hysterics! I hate the whining and crying!! Now as for Tamsey's comment, oh goodness, do I even dare do that to maddy come school time? cause she is SO slow that we were always late for Pre k!

k, so this isn't about me but you, but you sound just like me, so I"m you, well you're me, no no, I mean we're each other or, well, not really or quite, but um....

at this point should I just try to give you advice? lol, KIDDING! my biggest tactic is to just talk softly (keeps me from raising my voice -doesn't always work) and I sometimes use the ignore tactic. I'll purposefully sit down and start doing something with my other kids and not include her. Then she does what I've asked and we all get to do 'whatever' together. Patience is my biggest struggle!!!” – Jessica McCrary Jones
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” men you have patience.I will wipp butts. no patience even if i slept night and day.no wonder why i like hitler!!!! he is a taurus too. LOL Boy i am in trouble...” – Yola Abdou
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“Patience eh?
Your patience, their training. There is a balance in there somewhere. Of course, about the time you get it all figured out they will be grown. And guess what? They will be fine.
You don't have to be perfect, just keep doing your best and the Lord will fill in the little gaps here and there.

Get off your own back. You are a very good Mom! You have a home filled with love, you honor God and you are teaching those things through word and example.” – Scott Kidwell (Dad)
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“It's good to see that I am not the only mom who looses it. Matt told me the other day I needed to stop yelling. So I yelled at him. I'm sorry, but at the end of the day - most of which I've kept my cool for - I have no patience for the whinning and dramatics as I'm now trying to make dinner. I'll go from talking nicely - which cant' be heard over their screaming, to talking firmly, which I just get given the "evil eye", to screaming at the top of my lungs just to try to be heard - and I lost MY voice! If you find the miracle way, please fill me in. As for the dressing issues - Madysen hates to get dressed in the morning for school. I've now gotten to the point where I tell her to pick out her own clothes and get dressed. Sometimes the clothes match- other times, like last week, she went it mismatched pjs. Or her shorts were on backwards. It just wasn't worth the fight. Since she wouldn't let me do her hair- it went as it was- a MESS! I'll just worry about it on special days & church” – Shawna Putt Gonzalez