Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - Superhero Elliott

Every Sunday at the end of church, my children run down the halls (despite our repeated counsel to walk in church) to get candy from the bishop's office. The bishop allows them to get two treats. Usually it includes things like hi-chews and taffy; however, this Sunday they were coming out with mini-snickers and mini-M&Ms. As soon as Elliott saw me he told me to close my eyes. While they were closed he placed one of his treats (a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) in my pocket. He knows that those are my favorite and so he got one of his candies specifically for me. When I pulled it out of my pocket and said thank you he jumped up and down because he was so happy. Elliott is my superhero today for his selfless sharing.

Testimony - Superhero Julia

Once a month at church the main Sacrament meeting is open for individuals from the congregation to go to the pulpit and share their testimonies instead of having planned talks. I was planning on going up and sharing my testimony as well as sharing how proud I was of Julia for deciding to be baptized. However, as I was about to get up, Rebecca nudged me and pointed to Julia (who had been sitting by Grandma Little) who was walking to the stand to share her own testimony. She shared her beliefs about the church and the feelings she had when she was baptized. I was very impressed.

Julia is my superhero today for being brave enough to share her testimony with others.

Uno - Superhero Christian

Our kids have sometimes had trouble playing board games. They all just want to win so bad that someone almost always ends up crying when the game doesn't go his or her way. At first it was games like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders; however, with some practice they got pretty good at being good sports. Recently, we have started to teach Julia, Ethan, and Christian a few more grown up games like checkers and Uno. Unfortunately the tears have returned so we haven't played those games all that much. When Grandma and Grandpa Little were here this last week some of those games came back out. As a result, a few "time outs" ended up being issued. Since then, Rebecca and I have been trying to play more of these games with them to help them learn to be okay with losing with them as well.

Today, Rebecca was playing Uno with Christian and Ethan while I was playing checkers with Julia. A few times I heard Ethan start to complain, but overall everyone was doing much better than previous times. When Julia and I finished up, I started watching their game. I noticed that Christian had a bunch of draw twos and other really good cards. After a few turns, Christian had to play a draw two on Ethan, but instead he reached for a new card from the pile. Julia called him out on it, but he refused to play the card on Ethan - he didn't want to make his brother sad.

Christian (4) is my superhero today for placing the feelings of Ethan above his own interest in winning the game.

Baptism - Superhero Julia

In our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints) when a child turns eight years old they can choose to be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and official become a member of the Church. More information on our beliefs about baptism can be found here or here.

Julia turned 8 in November and so she had the opportunity to be baptized today. She was a little nervous, but super excited. There were five other children her age from this area who were also getting baptized at the same time, so there were actually a lot of people there for the program. It was a wonderful evening. Our family sang a song, Grandma Little gave a short talk, there were a couple other talks and songs, and then the ordinances. I was very proud of the decision Julia had made to be baptized and become a member of the church.

Julia (8) is my superhero today for setting a good example for her younger brothers and sister.

Sharing Croissants - Superhero Elliott

Agnes is definitely a carbs girl.  She prefers bread over vegetables, but she also chooses it over fruit, meat, dairy, and sometimes even sweets, although bananas hold their own. Before we fully realized this fact, we would often put several types of food on her tray at a time. She would go for the bread first and then once that was gone, start throwing the rest of her food on the floor and cry until she got more bread. Now we give her as much as we can of the other food with the bread out of sight before showing her the other stuff. I am a carbs person too, so I think she gets it from me.

We had picked up some croissants at the store today and when we got home all of the kids got a half to tide them over until dinner. Agnes wasn't around so we decided she could probably just wait for her meal. A little later I found Elliott in the living room sharing his with Agnes. He would take a bite and then hand it over to her. She would try to scarf down as much as possible, hold it tight in her hand, and turn her body away from Elliott. Elliott would then say "my turn" or "give it back Agnes" and manage to pull it out of her hands. He would then take another bite and hand it back over. They followed the same pattern until the coveted treat was gone.

Elliott (2) is my superhero today for sharing with his little sister.

Concerned Girl - Superhero Agnes

When we go out and do our shopping trips as a family there are usually a couple stores that just Rebecca or I will run in to for a quick browse or to pick just an item or two. When I run in, I almost always come back to a car of laughing or singing or some other merriment. When Rebecca runs in, Agnes immediately starts crying and I spend the time trying to soothe her and am counting down the seconds until she comes back (at which point Agnes quickly settles back down).

Today as we were shopping I dropped Rebecca off to get her hair cut (it looks spectacular if you were wondering), while I took the rest of the kids to the store to start on the groceries. When she stepped out of the car Agnes started her usual cry. But then I put the car in gear and started driving and she took it to another level. She was so panicked at the idea of leaving mom that her usual protest was not adequate and she screamed like I have never heard her scream before. Luckily she wore herself out by the time we parked the car and she ended up doing really well on the rest of the trip.

Agnes (1) is my superhero today for loving Rebecca so much, but also for settling down in time for me to take her in the store.

It may not work, but I have tried to include a video of her crawling, a talent she has recently picked up.

TMNT - Superhero Ethan

As a family we always like to go out and do some Black Friday shopping. Although we are not true Black Friday shoppers hitting the stores at midnight or even sometime on Thanksgiving, we like to go around sometime on Friday morning to be out in the crowds and see if there are any good deals left. This year, Ethan had been saving up his money to specifically spend it on that day. Although it wasn't on sale, he did end up purchasing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Leonardo) that he had been wanting for some time.

When we got home he was excited to open it up and play with it. Prior to purchasing this Leonardo, Ethan had a stuffed animal Leonardo that he liked to play with. After seeing Christian enviously watch him play with his new turtle, he found his old one and gave it to him. He also took some of his new Leonardo's swords and other weapons and let Christian play with those as well.

Ethan (6) is my superhero today for sharing his toys with Christian.

Classroom Visit - Superhero Julia

I got to visit Julia's class today and do an hour long presentation on how brains work and ways to take care of them. It was a lot of fun for me and I think all of her classmates had a good time as well. When I was in the class I saw that all of the kids share a two person desk except for Julia and one other kid in the back - they each had their own desks that were side-by-side. Curious, after school I asked Julia about the desk situation and why hers and the other kid's desks were different. Julia's teacher has told me on a few occasions how well-behaved Julia is in class and how much she loves having her in there, so I wasn't at all worried that Julia had done something wrong. At first she said that she didn't want to say because someone's feelings might get hurt. I assured her that it would be okay sharing with me because I am her parent. She then explained that the other kid struggles at school and sometimes has a hard time sitting still and following directions so he needs his own desk away from others sometimes. I then asked her how she got assigned to sit next to him. She said she wasn't assigned, but she chose to because he is her friend. Ethan than jumped in and told about all the games that he likes to play with Julia and that kid at recess time.

Julia (8) is my superhero today for being a friend to someone who might have a harder time at school.

Friendly Gal - Superhero Agnes

Rebecca had a Thanksgiving get together with some friends in the area who have children the same age as ours. She reported to me that Agnes did a great job at the party - She didn't fuss at all when some of the other moms or even some of the other kids wanted to hold her, she played well with the other little kids that were also her age, and she had plenty of big smiles to share. One of the other moms had watched Agnes the other day while Rebecca was at the dentist and I was teaching a class. The other mom told Rebecca that Agnes had gotten into crawling position, and when her daughter (about 5 months older than Agnes) saw it, she went over to hop on and get a horsey ride. The mom made sure to report that she intervened prior to her daughter hopping on. When I heard the story I remember that I caught Chrisitan and Elliott gently sitting on Agnes earlier that day. She is definitely a tough girl and I don't think she would have minded if the other girl had done some rough and tumble play with her.

Agnes is my superhero today for playing well at the party.

Not Quite Superheros, But Still Something Worth Remembering

For the past month Rebecca has been preparing the choir for a special Thanksgiving musical number. Although Rebecca is very musically talented, she has never directed a choir before, and so she has been a little stressed wanting to make sure it all turned out right for church today. You might remember the previous post about study hall passes. Well today was the big performance. Julia and Ethan went up with the rest of the choir and did great.

Christian and Elliott told me they would be reverent in going up and it seemed like they did pretty good during all the practices, so I didn't think there would be any harm in letting them go up too. I was definitely wrong, and I knew that I had made a mistake when it was time for the choir members to take their seats. Although Christian and Elliott folded their arms as they were walking up to the stand, instead of sitting with the rest of the choir, Christian sat all on his own and Elliott went all the way back to the last row. As the song began Christian started off well, but Elliott stood up on the bench of the last row and started jumping back and forth from one end of the stand to the other. Rebecca had peeked over her shoulder and gave me a panicked look, but I thought it would make more of a scene if I was to run up there and get him. But then Christian saw all the fun that his brother was having and so he left his spot and joined him. Unfortunately, jumping on the benches turned into some tackles, and Christian hollering out directions to Elliott for how to play the game right. Then it turned into crawling under the benches and popping out at different places on the stand. Although I gave them some "you're in huge trouble stares" and motioned for them to come down at once every time they looked at me, I couldn't help but laugh throughout the musical number. As I looked around the chapel I did notice smiles on everyone's faces, but I felt bad for the distraction when the choir (and especially Rebecca) had worked so hard on the reverent musical number. 

After the musical number was over, Rebecca walked back to our seats and I could tell she was super embarrassed. She still did get up for the closing song and with a smile on her face, led the congregation in the final hymn. After the meeting, several people came up to Rebecca and offered kind words. One person even said that he saw more courage in her when she got up to lead the final musical number while smiling than he had seen on the battlefield with soldiers dodging bullets. I know Rebecca was really embarrassed, but I don't think she needed to be. I am sure everyone at church was thinking "what kind of a husband sends up two little kids to run around on the stand while his wife is trying to lead a musical number?" I am happy to report that although it was embarrassing while it was happening, Rebecca and I have had several laughs about the whole incident today.

Christian (4) and Elliott (2) are my superheros today for keeping us humble and giving us something to laugh about.