Sweet Memories

The time has been going by so fast.  I feel like there are so many things I want to write down or record before I forget them, but the days are so packed and go by so fast, I never quite find the time.  So I thought I'd take a couple minutes to write a few things quickly.  It may not be as eloquent as I would like, but hopefully when I read this later it will remind me how sweet and wonderful my little ones are.

So here are a few thoughts about each of my angels.

Sarah.  Here are a couple recent pictures of her that are my favorites.

Sarah starts preschool this year, but not until Sept. 6th.  Ashley and Ty started back to school on Aug. 22nd.  Sarah of course thought she was starting that day too, and she got all dressed and even got her lunch box packed and ready to go.  It was hard to tell her she couldn't go to school, she didn't quite understand why she couldn't start that day too.  It was sad, but I'm happy to know that she is so excited for school!

Sarah says the funniest things.  Here's something she said last February:
Sarah: "Mom...what if all the dinosaurs were dead?"
Me: "Well, honey, they are all dead." 
Sarah: "What?! Who shot them?!!"

Sarah has a unique ability to make me laugh and to make me cry.  She is so smart.  She learned her letter sounds when she was 2 years old.  She loves to write her letters and is already starting to try to read.  Her smarts can get her into a lot of trouble though.  She is so independent, since she was just little she often escapes and goes where she wants.  When she was just two, I think, she escaped once while I was on a phone call and went down the road where a neighbor driving home saw her and took her home so she wouldn't get hurt.  They called me to say they had Ashley, but I knew that wasn't true, I said surprised, "Do you mean Sarah?!"  I didn't even know she had gone, so I immediately drove up to their house, only to see police cars there.  Sarah was sitting on the couch next to my neighbor, while the police asked me some questions, and she didn't even come over to me.  When they were done, the neighbor said to me, in a very condescending tone, "She said she's hungry."  Well, that's because I let her wander the streets and don't feed her, I felt like saying.  Anyway, it was embarrassing and scary to say the least.  When I think how quickly she could have gotten down to Fort Union Blvd., a very major road, I was so grateful for my neighbor, despite her response.  I tried to come up with ways to contain Sarah, but she is hard to contain.  For awhile she would disappear and go visit Nyandang, our next door neighbor.  She loved to go ring their doorbell and visit for the few minutes it would take me to realize she was gone.


That's one thing about Sarah.  She has no fear.  She will just jump into the pool whether you are looking or not, even though she can't really swim.  She will talk to anybody and is not intimidated by any adult at all.  If they say hi to her, she will respond, "Hi, I'm Sarah.  I'm four.  When I turn five, I get to get my ears pierced.  This is my brother, Ted.  He's one and has teeth."  I love that she is not shy.  None of my kids are.  I was so shy as a kid, so I am so grateful they are not.  

The fact that Sarah has no fear makes it difficult to discipline her.  She really is unaffected by any punishment at all.  Even from her dad.  Brent has a look that even I would be afraid of.  Not Sarah.  When she was just learning to talk, Ashley taught her to say, "Shut up."  (Yes, thank you Ashley.  She now regrets that too.)  Sarah would go around telling us to "Shup."  As she got older, she learned even more delightful words.  One time when Brent was disciplining her, he was trying to be very stern to get across the seriousness of her offense.  He gave her a very stern look as he finished scolding her.  Sarah just looked directly at him and very deliberately said, "Shup....jerk."  How do you respond to that?  We are still trying to figure out what to do with Sarah sometimes.


For all the anger and frustration Sarah can cause me (she has a way of constantly creating havoc and messes, and has "flogged the toilet" as she puts it, too many times to count), she is a real sweetheart too.  She loves to give presents.  Last year I watched my nephew, Jack, in the mornings and took him to Kindergarten each day.  When Aunt Kim would come in to drop Jack off, Sarah would run off exclaiming, "I have a present for you!"  She would return with something she drew or a toy and always wanted to give Kim a present.  Every time I say we are going to go see someone that day, she gets into my drawer for a gift bag and tissue and wraps up some thing she has made for them.  It really is a sweet thing.


When I was about five, I remember that I began to understand that I would one day die.  I didn't want to die and I remember once laying on the floor beside my parents' bed crying and saying, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die."  Sarah must have started to have similar realizations, but she had a different response that I like.  Sarah didn't cry, she just said, "I want to live!"

While driving to dance last Wednesday, I looked back to see if Sarah had her seat belt on.  She asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was just checking to see if her seat belt was on.  She said, "Cuz you don't want me to die?"  I said yes, I don't want her to die and she started going on about how if she died I would be sad.  I agreed and she said, "Then you'd have to bury me and put on my grave, 'Poor Sarah is dead.'"  I had to laugh a bit at the thought of putting that on her grave stone.

Ted

 This is a funny look he gives you sometimes when you smile at him.  It cracks me up.

 The other night he came walking towards me with his blanket over his head like a little ghost.  It was so cute!  I love seeing him discover new things and seeing his personality come out more and more.

Ted is my little sweetheart.  My nickname for him is "Teddy Bear."  I can't believe he is already 18 months old!  Here are some of my favorite things about Ted, things I hope to always remember.

When Ted was born, he broke my tailbone, so I couldn't feed him sitting down, I had to lay in my bed.  I would just keep him there all night usually to make things easier.  One of my favorite memories of him when he was not too old, was that when he would wake up in the morning, he would fuss and I would feed him, and then he'd spring up all happy and crawl over to his Daddy, who was usually lying on his side, facing the other way.  Ted would pull up onto his arm and start hitting it or his head over and over, saying, "Hi, hi, hi, hi," until he got a response from Brent.  It was too cute.

I have a lullaby I have sung to each of my children to put them to sleep--"Baby Mine" from the Dumbo movie.  It is always so sweet when they start singing along with me.  Ty will still sing along with me, or have me sing it to him, when he needs a little comfort.  I remember Sarah singing it with me when I would put her to bed, her sweet little voice chiming along.  Now it is Ted's favorite song.  He started to sing along quite early it seems, of course not with perfect words, but I could tell what he was singing.  He often starts to sing the tune when he wants me to sing it with him.  He kind of just gets the first sounds of each word and it is funny to hear his raspy little voice draw out each sound as he sings along with me.  It absolutely melts my heart.  I love how often he starts singing it, waiting for me to join in, as if that is his way to ask me to sing it to him.  It is the sweetest thing.  It's fun to hear my older kids sing this lullaby to Ted too.

There are two things that will get Ted to come running to you when he hears them.  One is the bath.  Whenever he hears Dad start the water in the bath, he comes running and wants to get in too.  (Of course that applies to each of my kids, except poor Ashley now, who is officially too big to join everyone in the bath.)  The other thing that gets Ted to come is the vacuum.  It is the funniest thing.  Every time I start vacuuming, sure enough Ted shows up, stands a few feet in front of me like he's daring the vacuum to come get him.  As I move the vacuum towards his feet, he squeals with laughter and steps backwards, letting the vacuum "chase" him.  It is so funny how much he loves this!

Another thing Ted loves is shoes!  No one's shoes are safe if they are left out.  Ted will put anyone's shoes on, it doesn't matter if they are high heels or Dad's huge dress shoes.  He loves to walk around in other people's shoes and will even steal visitor's shoes if he gets the chance.

Another game Ted has discovered is hiding under the covers.  He loves to tunnel under our big down comforter and hide, waiting anxiously for someone to lift the covers and yell, "Peek-a-boo!"  He just laughs and laughs and can't get enough.

As Ted has gotten older, he's become more expressive.  He hasn't picked up on saying, "No!" yet, thank goodness, but he has started to ask, "Why?"  Whenever I tell him he can't do something or touch something, he replies with the funniest little raspy, "Why?"  His little voice will break in the middle of it and it is the funniest thing.  It sounds like he is a whiny teenager asking why they can't do something.  It cracks me up that he picked that up before other words.

Something else he does that makes me laugh is that whenever you do something he doesn't like, he raises his hand behind his head like he is getting ready to hit you or throw something at you.  It's almost like he does it as a threat, like he's telling you you better do what he wants or....  Sometimes he has actually tried to hit us, but usually he just raises his threatening hand and stares us down.  I love seeing him start to assert his independence.  It is so funny and makes me wonder what is going on in that little mind of his.

Ty

Ty has to be one of the absolute sweetest boys I know.  Everyone loves Ty.  It's easy.  He is sweet, unassuming, so positive, happy, and kind.  He does not judge others.  If they will play with him, especially if they are willing to play army, he is their friend.  His uncle Scott has often said that if his son Ryan turns out like Ty that he will be the proudest father ever.  Friends' parents love to have him over.  One parent told us, who has four boys, that their house is a little happier and calmer and the boys get along better whenever Ty is there.  One friend's family affectionately calls him, "Tiny Tim."  His teachers all love him and say he is one of their favorite students because of his sweet, positive attitude and how hard he tries at everything.

Some favorite things about Ty are the way he says some words.  He still says "macation" for "vacation."  He wanted to go to "Doon Dogs" for his birthday this year, a.k.a. "Boondocks."  For the longest time he would say, "Brudder" for "brother."  When he started school, I knew I would need to really start correcting him on these things, but I just couldn't with some of my favorites.  I liked the Ty pronunciation better than the real one.  I guess I just hated to think that he would one day grow out of it and say everything right and that one day his sweet, little, sometimes squeaky voice will get deeper.  I will miss that little voice.

In kindergarten, Ty met a little girl named Olivia.  Actually, the first day of kindergarten I got to meet her dad first when he pulled me over for taking too quick of a left turn in front of his police car as I was hurriedly trying to get Ty to school.  (How embarrassing!)  Luckily, her dad happened to be taking Olivia to her first day also, or he might have been more apt to give me a ticket!  Well, Ty got to know Olivia and it has been true love ever since.  One day I asked Ty why he loved Olivia.  He thought for a second, and said, "She's kind, and nice and beautiful.  She's the best person I know."  Just now as I was writing this, Ty starting drawing a picture of a butterfly.  He said, "Mom, guess who this picture is for?"  I answered, "Olivia?"  "Yep!"  He then went on to tell me that she likes it when he gives her pictures and then she talks to him more.  "I love her voice.  It sounds so cute to me.  Every day I just want to hear her voice," he said.  Awwwww.  He's the sweetest little guy.

For some reason in 2nd grade while Ty was learning to read, all the books were trying too hard to be politically correct.  Every name was some Hispanic, African, or other ethnic name.  For a little boy struggling to learn to read, "Tom" or "Jane" would have been much easier.  Instead there was "Berto" and "Jamaica."  Every time he saw "Jamaica" he would read it "Jamocha."  Every time he saw "Berto" he would read "Burrito."  I started to get a little frustrated that they made the names so difficult for him, but the more he read it wrong, I had to laugh.  It reminded me of a favorite song of ours and I started to sing, "Jamaica, Jamocha, Berto, Burrito, let's call the whole thing off!"


Speaking of that song, that used to be one of Sarah's favorites.  She loved to sing it.  All I would have to do is sing, "Tomato..."  and she'd chime in, "tomato."  I'd sing "Potato..." and she'd chime in, "tomato."  She never did pick up on "potato."  But she sure loved that song.

Here's another funny reading story about Ty that I wrote on Facebook last February:
The other night Ty had to read a story about the Inuits and he just could not remember that word. It repeated over and over in the story and each time he would try to figure it out, but I'd have to keep reminding him "Inuit." I was getting a little impatient until he came to that word again and read, "Narf-u-dah." I just busted up laughing. How he got that for "Inuit" is beyond me, but we both had a good laugh.


Ashley

Ashley is only 9, but to talk to her you would think she was much older.  This girl has got ambition.  She has set the bar high for herself.  She plans to go to college, serve a mission, marry in the temple, invent the first water powered engine, be a lawyer, and be the first female President of the United States.  I know!  I get tired just writing it!  

How did she come to these goals?  Well, one day, she sweetly told her mom that she was a good example to her and she wanted to make all the same decisions she did--thus the college, mission and temple marriage.  :)  
Her dad inspired her to make the water powered engine as they were one day discussing cars and gas prices.  Ashley said, "I'm going to invent an engine that runs off water!"  Brent said, "If you did, you'd be the richest person in the world."  Well that cemented that resolve in Ashley's mind!  (She really wants an iPod Touch, after all!)  

Being a lawyer was a natural extension of Ashley's personality.  She LOVES to read.  She will read for hours and has an awesome memory.  Ashley remembers who gave her each gift and for what occasion.  She has done that since I can remember, it is amazing.  Ashley is also very argumentative.  Not in a negative way, she just questions everything or has a retort for whatever I may say.  One day I said, "Ashley, you should be a lawyer!"  As Brent and I actually began to think about it, we began listing the qualities that would make her a great lawyer, and it became obvious to all of us that she seemed made for it.  Her grandpa and uncle are both lawyers and she loves and admires them both, so she was pretty excited about that idea.


The President idea came from being forced to listen to talk radio with mom.  I listen often when we are in the car and Ashley from an early age began to ask questions about people and ideas and so I would have political discussions with her.  She would get so frustrated about certain things and want to change them.  So she decided she wanted to be President so she could do something about it!  I love that Ashley already cares about politics and what is going on in this great nation.  I think this is a very unique quality for a 9 year old.  I have to wonder what the future does hold for her, as she seems uniquely prepared for something great.    Brent once told her that the President doesn't really have much power, that the Supreme Court is where she could really make a difference.  That made her think a bit about which she'd prefer.  Whatever she does, I'm sure she will make a difference for good.


Another quality about Ashley that is unique is her conscience and understanding.  As my other kids have gotten older, or reached certain ages, I have really noticed how unique Ashley is in this respect.  When Ashley was not much older than Ted, Brent was having a lot of back pain, but had to wait to get surgery, so he was taking a lot of pain pills.  Sometimes, those pills or others would fall on the floor.  Ashley was so little and I was so worried that she might eat one, that I taught her what his pills looked like and told her that if she ever saw one, she must bring it to Mommy and never put it in her mouth.  There were a couple times that she did just that.  I didn't realize how remarkable this was until Ty and Sarah got to be the same age and I realized that they might not have been capable of understanding that or doing the same.  

Even as they have reached other ages when Ashley understood certain things or did certain things, I've been amazed that Ashley did that at that same age.  Sarah is almost five.  That is when I let them get their ears pierced.  Sarah can't wait, but it's hard for me to believe she is the same age Ashley was.  Ashley seemed so much more responsible then.  I really can't imagine Sarah taking responsibility to twist her studs and put on the ear care solution.  And yet, Ashley did just that.  Ashley was also not much older than Sarah when we began having "the talk" in age appropriate doses.  Over the years we've had more in depth conversations about why we don't have sex before marriage, about the no-win situation of having a baby out of wedlock, about why I pray she will do all these things in the proper order.  Ashley does understand and is easy to talk to about these things.  Ty is 8 and still seems too young to truly understand or care about any of it.  


Ashley used to come right home and tell me whenever something happened at school that bothered her.  I was always amazed at what she felt compelled to confess, like that someone had said a bad word around her, or talked about something inappropriate.  She always felt better after she told me and we would talk about it.  I loved it too, because I knew she would give me the opportunity to teach her and I could tell that she had a very strong conscience and was still very sensitive to inappropriate things.  She's gotten a little less sensitive (thank you public school) but we still talk easily about things and she is usually very open about what happens.  I love my little grown up Ashley, wise beyond her years.