Life with children

I just read an article about children in China that has got me thinking. It was talking about the 1 child limit per couple. They estimate they have eliminated 300 million births ( the population of the US). There are exceptions. If you live in the country and need help with the farm, you can have more children. If you have lost a child, you can have more children. It was started in 1979, so they are starting the second generation of controlled growth. They say the children are spoiled by both sets of grandparents and parents. Both parents usually work. They say that people like the system and that it make sense to them. One father who lived in the country felt sorry for his children that they wouldn't have everything. It worries me what the society will evolve into. We have talked about moving to China several times in our marriage. I can only imagine what they would think about our four children. Living in Idaho, it hasn't seemed so crazy to people that we have 4 kids. In traveling to D.C., we got more comments. I am grateful for my children and I am grateful to be their mother. I know that there are things that are sacrificed because we don't have enough money to do everything for everyone. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. I was reading a talk about motherhood. It included these thoughts from a mother: 'Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep."
As my children drive me a little crazy sometimes and I have to remember who I am and why I am doing this again, I like this quote:“It is this realization,” she says, “that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious, and will plead for His help. Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered. I like that idea. It gives me hope."
Here is another section of the talk: "Yours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all the human family, the one who understood that she and Adam had to fall in order that “men [and women] might be” and that there would be joy. Yours is the grand tradition of Sarah and Rebekah and Rachel, without whom there could not have been those magnificent patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which bless us all. Yours is the grand tradition of Lois and Eunice and the mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Yours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry, and bear the Son of God Himself. We thank all of you, including our own mothers, and tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God, in bringing to pass the mortality and earthly life of His daughters and sons, so that immortality and eternal life can come in those celestial realms on high."
Would I change the fact that I have four children. Never. I can't imagine our family without all of them. I will put a smile on my face as I face another pile of dirty laundry, and thank Heavenly Father that He trusts me enough to have four of his children under my care.

Window to a View

This is a bear from the National Zoo.

This is the Christus Statue at the Washington, D.C. Temple, and the kids in front of the temple.

This is a T-Rex that is about to eat Brynna. She is learning about dinosaurs in her preschool now.

You can see the space shuttles in the background at the Air and Space Museum. It was pretty cool. We saw this collapsible bathtub ( like those tunnels kids crawl through that collapse down to store) that they bathe in.

Inauguration

We didn’t end up going to the inauguration. It was 14 degrees. Bridger's brother went and watched it in one of the Smithsonian buildings. It was that cold on Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Monday were 32-36 degrees and much more tolerable. The days that were cold, it was okay because you were moving, but I didn’t think the kids could tolerate the crowds. They are so small town. They don’t know to stay close to us and the dangers that lie in the big city, even when I try to tell them. I didn’t think they would enjoy it and thus, I would not enjoy it because of the whining and complaining. There were problems with people pushing into the ticketed areas so I think it would have not been pleasant. The crowds were unreal. Lots of problems on the metro which we would have had to ride to get there. One person was struck by a train because they were pushed/fell off the platform. It would have been cool for Bridger and I but we had no babysitter and besides, it was awesome just feeling the excitement that was there in the city. We weren’t able to do much on Tuesday because all the roads were closed and we couldn’t go anywhere.

We did go to a statue called the Awakening that is basically a giant in the sand, that looks like he is waking up. We only got 2 out of the four on the kids list of things they wanted to do. They wanted to go ice skating, swimming, to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (where they make the money), and to the Daughters of the American Revolution Toy Museum. We went ice skating and to the toy museum. We went skating in an outdoor sculpture garden at Smithsonian Gallery of Art on the morning of the day we flew out. There is still a list of things I would like to do back there. It would be fun to go back but not when there are so many visitors to the area. We took the kids on the Metro ( the subway there) and they thought it was SO cool! It is funny what kids enjoy and what they don’t. Bridger said if he did it again that he would do the things the kids wanted first. I sometimes call Corban, George. On the last day, I asked him, “Since I sometimes call you George and since you have been to Washington, can I call you George Washington?” He said, “Sure!” What a funny boy. In his journal on the last day he wrote, "Bye-Bye Washington!" I guess that about sums it up.

The kids did pretty good on the plane. There was always spilled drinks. My kids didn’t really remember the times they have been on an airplane before. They thought it was pretty cool. Daven slept about half the time both ways and he only got to a high squeal rather than a full on cry. He bounced back and forth between me and Bridger pretty much both ways, too. Kjerstin is sometimes a better Mom than me. I had bought the kids each a small bag of M&M’s for the plane. Kjerstin on the other hand had fruit snacks packed and goldfish. She she packed a water bottle for the car ride and I didn’t. She was prepared! I thought for a moment I should be embarrassed. Then I decided I should just be grateful she is my daughter and can be such a help to her poor mother!

More from D.C.

Well yesterday we spent a day at a local stake conference here. It reminded me of what it is like to live in areas where every other person isn't Mormon. It made me a little nostalgic for the time we lived in Oregon. I also realize the church is the same everywhere and that is a huge blessing. We also went to the national cathedral. It is SO ornate. It was only finished building in 1990 which surprised me. I know the Salt Lake and some other early temple took longer but today we have temples covering the globe and I am pretty sure most of them have funding plans before they are built. There was a sculpture on the front that depicted spirits being created out of nothingness and chaos (which was a whirlpool sort of thing) that depicted creation. The spirits looked pained! I am so glad to know we were created by a Heavenly Father who loves us. We were going to go to a mosque as well but traffic hampered us. A drive that normally takes 15 minutes took 2 hours. It is crazy how many people are here. We went to the visitors center at the LDS temple. It was so fun. I have been wanting to take my kids to the Idaho Falls temple to see the renovated visitors center and I guess that is why we go on vacation--so we can do the things we mean to do but don't take time for, like the zoo we have been meaning to visit in Idaho Falls but haven't made it there yet. We went to the National Zoo today. The pandas they have on loan from China were so cute! They pay a million per panda per year to China for the pandas. Outrageous! It was so fun to see all the animals and the zoo was so cool as to have so many interactive things for kids to do. I could have stayed longer but everything is closing early for the inauguration. We don't see a lot of kids here as we drive around. The travel took us a total of 3 hours to get there and get back which is not because of distance. So that was about all we got done today. My kids will appreciate no traffic Idaho all the more when we get home. Also a funny note: when we got back to Bridger's brothers house for dinner, Brynna went to go wash her hands. She told me the water wouldn't come on. She was in there waving her hands in front of the faucet. She has been in too many public bathrooms with automatic faucets. When we get home it will be going back to the stone age for poor Brynna having to turn the faucet to get the water on.

Washington, D.C.!

Well, this is our third day in Washington, D.C. Yesterday was the coldest day they have had in the last 5 years! We wanted to take the kids ice skating in the art statue garden but it has been too cold! There is hardly any parking so we park wherever we can and we walk everywhere else. Brynna keeps saying, "Why can't we just drive?" You can tell she has spent most of her life in small town Pocatello. We have been to the Air and Space Museum (the coolest part for the kids was the roller coaster through the planets), the Natural History Museum (which Bridger said was creepy seeing all those skeletons), the National Aquarium, the DAR Toy Museum (which Corban said was better than the Wii if you can believe that). It has been interesting because Jared (Bridger's brother) doesn't have cable so we haven't been watching TV and it has been a great break for me from the background noise I hear daily. We have had our customary pictures taken in front of the White House, the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We have seen homeless people who oogled over Daven. I think it is good for my kids to see that as they see things like that on TV but have never seen it in person to see that it does exist. We have also seen lots of "Welcome Barrack" paraphenalia. Corban was bragging to kids in his class that he was going to meet Barrack. Bridger's brother said, "Do you want me to have one on my friends come and pretend to be the president?" It was so funny. The architechture on these buildings is amazing to me. It is also interesting to see how different my perspective is from when I was here as a teenager. We still have plans to see the Zoo, the Postal Museum, the temple and go to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. As we were driving today we went through Chinatown which was fun for Bridger and then he said, "Is it possible that I actually know where we are?" We are making our way around and enjoying Bridger's brother's company. It is interesting because this is the most time I have spent with him and I see more similarities in him and his brother. Kjerstin lost a tooth last night and the tooth fairy visited her in Washington, D.C. She was thrilled! We still are undecided about the inauguration. We will decide upon the weather as it gets closer to the dates. There are entire streets of news vans blocking the street. It is definitely an historic occasion!

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last little bit.

Brynna is standing on top of Bridger. He doesn't do anything to diminish my desire for them to not be so acrobatic around my house. I think when they are Olympic gymnasts I will probably say it was all worth it!

Kjerstin rocked Daven to sleep. How blessed I am to have a daughter who is so good to help me!

Daven's first birthday bash. He enjoyed the cake if you can't tell!

January Blahs

January. It comes after December, the month that I feel like I am running from Thanksgiving on to December. And then it hits. I just feel unmotivated! My parents who are in Finland say the Finns leave up their Christmas decorations through January because they love the light it brings to their dark part of the earth. I don't know if my lack of motivation is missing that good feeling you get when you are giving more (like you do around Christmas.) I have had laundry and cleaning that just couldn't motivate me to move and get it done this week. I just want to be a bear and hibernate for a few months! My family might say I am a bear, but that is digressing. My hightlight of the week is rocking Daven to sleep while Brynna was at preschool, and just holding him while he napped. I love that poem, "...The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep." Fortunately (so I can't keep justifing my dusty house) we have a little trip planned to get me motivated! We are going to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. Well, I don't know if we are going to actually go TO the inauguration. We have tickets, but the security and crowds may not work with 4 kids. We will make the decision when we get there. The kids are totally jazzed as we don't do this kind of thing very often. I have been to D.C. twice before and have seen what I want to see so I am hoping to make this a once in a lifetime for my kids. My brother in law, who lives there, is providing me with great planning material. D.C. has lots of free places to go. I found some free ice skating and swimming and sadly my kids are just as excited about this as all the other stuff. We will see what we actually get packed into our 7 day trip. It is probably crazy to go to D.C. during one of the busiest times of the year. I can already see us getting lost in traffic. I just have to remember to laugh and create memories. Keep reading for updates! I will try to journal our eventful trip!

Cute Things Kids Say

During Christmas Brynna was playing with the Little People nativity and singing "Away in a Manger." She was singing "Bless all the dear children in thy tender care and bless them that they may have clothes they can wear." I thought she must live at my house where people are always looking for clothes to wear since laundry is not my favorite.thing to do because it is never done! Later, she was singing "Skip to My Lou" and her version said, "Glue, Glue, sticks to glue, Glue, Glue sticks to glue...." It was pretty cute. I love hearing their little voices sing and how they try to figure out the lyrics in all those songs. Future little Mylie Cyrus!

Strange Relations!

In preparation for my lesson (see New Years post) I was reading about finding opportunities for learning everywhere. I like to run. Morning seems the only time I can regularly do it. It is a monotonous activity that requires little thought and so I can do it at 5am. While running I had this epipahny as I try to look for lessons everywhere. If it is too strange for you, I apologize. I think the Lord has had me be a little fatter in life than I would like to teach me lessons. I think weight control and spirituality control are easily related. You can make a big difference by just reading your scriptures daily and eating healthy. Those little things are the things that matter. Weight doesn’t come off quickly and it takes some time to build your testimony, too. When I exercise I feel better. When I read my scriptures and say my prayers I am happier. They are good things to do that we sometimes justify away saying we don’t have time. Both are not something you can get to a point and forget. It requires vigilance. Those are some relations I have found between the two. I also think it is important to read our scriptures daily because we are making deposits in our retirement account. We seem to be good about doing that financially with money but we need to do it with scriptural knowledge so that we have something in our account for when we retire ( not from a job but from this life).

New Years!

I have a goal to add to this blog at least once a week. As I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to write this week, I fell to the all too easy alternative of New Years Resolutions! I googled resolutions and found some funny responces like: "I will show all of my favorite geeky movies, TV shows, cartoons, etc., to my kids as they become old enough for each. I will not be disappointed—or at least will conceal my disappointment—if they don't like them as much as I did at their age. Unless they don't like Star Wars, in which case weeping openly is simply unavoidable." There were generic ones like: do more service, get fit, spend more time with family, etc. My resolutions are something like: read my scriptures more regularly, say morning and nightly prayers, lose baby weight, get over my Diet Coke addiction, etc. I had to teach Relief Society at church today. The topic was the Power of Diligent Learning. I came across this quote: " True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." (Pres. Boyd K. Packer) I also read an article that says LDS people are constantly setting resolutions as our church members are always striving to improve themselves (i.e. we present ourselves at the Lord's altar each week to renew our baptismal covenants to always keep his commandments). I guess my resolution should be to take seriously my covenants I have made with the Lord to be my brothers keeper, and to continue to study until those doctines edify my soul and I truly am enlightened by them to change those behaviors that need to be changed. A little twist on resolutions!