100 and counting

Whenever a television show reaches the 100 mark, it has a self-congratulatory celebration. My last post about Beth and her shoe was my 100th blentry. Yay me. What a remarkable achievement. I think we need to break out the crackers and cheese.

Almost got it...

Bethie was trying to reach the fly swatter, which is kept high on a windowsill. She couldn't reach it, so she grabbed her little tennis shoe. She used the shoe as a step-stool. (It didn't help.)

A new perspective on blessings from heaven...

We were reading the story of Job in the Old Testament. When I read that among Job's numerous blessings were his wife and 10 children, Sarah said, "Wow. That's a lot of diapers!"

Word for word

I don't know what that title was supposed to mean.

When Sarah was little, she always referred to umbrellas as rainbows.

Bethie calls her forehead her bonk and her toes her piggies.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Wow.

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. Last Tuesday, we ran out of diapers. Actually, we were using pull-ups under the pretense of potty training. They were gone and we had no money for more. So we put Beth in some cute little unders. Winnie the Pooh underwear. What could be better?

She had more accidents than success the first day. The second day, she had more success than accidents. By day three, she was dry, dry, dry. Day 4 and 5 were perfect. Day 6 brought a couple accidents. But there were none today. It isn't like we've had a free week that I could devote to potty-training. We have been overwhelmingly busy. I'm so proud of little Bethie. She just totally gets it. She is my fourth child and so I've done this before. It's NEVER worked like this...not even close.

I had a pediatrician tell me that one day she planned to write a book on potty training. She said it would contain one chapter: "Wait until the child is ready." Suffice it to say, Beth was ready.

Yay for Beth!

Helpfulness and haircuts

Early this afternoon I had 4 GRUMPY kids and I needed a break. I resorted to the official standby: Disney. While they watched, I started cleaning. It wasn't long before Ammon joined me. He didn't like that movie. (Neither do I.) So he picked up the books in the family room and vacuumed it. Then Nathan came up. He vacuumed the hardwood floor (yes, Mom, with the appropriate little vacuum). Meanwhile, Ammon dusted. Bethie joined Ammon in dusting. Then I started folding laundry. All the kids sat down to help me fold (except for Sarah, who chose the movie and evidently was enjoying it). Nathan asked permission to wash the windows. They all helped. Sarah even joined them mid-window-washing. I didn't ask for any of this. They just did it. I think they love me. (I threw that in because just this morning I was manipulatively telling the children that since they weren't obeying me by helping to clean up their sleeping area they obviously didn't love me. This is a good parenting technique because I am a good mom, right?)

With the upstairs sparkling clean, I went downstairs to see what needed to be done. I found piles of hair. Bethie had been experimenting with the scissors.

Exhibit A: The front view of a cute little face. Notice the right is significantly shorter than the left.

Exhibit B: The "long" (but still thin baby-hair) side.

Exhibit C: The short side.

It will be easy to fix, I believe. As I was scolding her (in a nice voice) she looked at me and sternly said, "Don't talk to me like that!" Then she picked up an ukulele and started singing "Zipadee Doo Dah." She's just so adorable.

I tried to take her picture, as evidenced above. For that last one, I said, "Bethie stand here and look over there." She would move over to wherever I pointed for her to look. Then she would turn around, smile, and say, "Cheese!" It was quite difficult to get that last blurry, eyes-shut photo.

Signed In

I did something odd today. I signed in to Google so that I could comment on my sisters' blogs. And now I feel great pressure to update my own blog. I've already crossed the barrier of signing in. The new barrier? I have nothing to say.

How about a friendly family update?

Chris: He finally passed his PRAXIS test!!!! What does this mean? I will tell you. Chris majored in media music. Not music education. He had no plans to teach. What is his career? He is a teacher. And a good one. An award-winning teacher. But he has no certification. When he was hired, he was given 3 years to take all the classes to be a real teacher. He took the classes. He passed the classes. Then he took the test. Then he retook the test. Then he retook it again. And one more time. He called last week to find out when the next one was and was told that they changed the cut-off for what score he needs to pass. He passed a while ago! He is now a teacher. A real one!

Megan: I have a lot of goals and a lot of plans and a lot that has to be done. But life keeps interrupting me. Like vacations (both us leaving and people coming to visit), summer, and a general lack of bedtime resulting in tiredness. But I am succeeding at other things like um, facebook. :)

Ammon: He spends most of time reading "Encyclopedia Brown" books and riding his bike. He loves Cub Scouts. He likes doing things for himself like making his own breakfast and lunch.

Sarah: She is adjusting to the idea of moving to England. She is loving her dance class. It is a Tahitian/Hawaiian class and they WORK OUT!!! She is so exhausted afterward, but she is enjoying it and I think she's pretty good. Plus, she's just plain pretty.

Nathan: Oh, Nathan. I don't say that nearly so often anymore. He is hilarious and keeps us laughing. He is so sweet and his little face is irresistible.

Bethie: Sweet Beth. She is so polite. She loves to sing. She is attempting to be potty trained. It's not going well. But she is happy almost all the time and she is the best eater in the house.

Our Engagement

As loyal followers of my blog, you will remember that this year I am marking the 10-year anniversaries of significant events in my life and relationship with Chris. Well, I am so out of it that I completely forgot to post about the engagement episode. Here it is.

Chris claims that he knew he would marry me the first time he saw me (that was around March 6). I knew with full confidence about halfway through our second date (that was around May 20). We started to discuss our future early in our relationship--within the first two weeks. We knew of course that only fools rush in. But timing is relevant. We waited FOREVER to get engaged--4 1/2 weeks! Chris thought it was a good idea to get married in June of 2000. I thought it was a better idea to get married in August of 1999. I won.

On Father's Day (Sunday, June 20, 1999), we drove together to my parents' to wish my dad a happy day. Chris was planning to ask Dad for my hand in marriage that night. The whole drive, he rehearsed what he would say. He was a little nervous about Dad's potential reaction. He role played (with himself) questions he thought my dad might ask and how he (Chris) would respond to the questions. For example, "He's going to ask me, 'How do you plan to support my daughter?' and I will say..." At this point I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that." So Chris would come up with another question Dad might ask. And again I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that either."

We had a lovely dinner. (I assume. I really don't remember.) Afterwards we were in the family room chatting. Chris asked my mom to come in the room. Brynn was there, too. Perhaps Michael was. This is the Rawlins family for you. It's all a family affair. Chris began to tell my dad how much he loved me. He was really very sweet and said some nice things. He even cried. Chris thinks it is humiliating that he cries when he feels things deeply. I think it is most endearing. Finally, at the end of his speech, he looked at my dad and said, "I guess what I'm doing is asking for your blessing." Dad responded, "Well, you've got it."

And that is what my dad would say. He's not going to ask a bunch of questions.

Well, some people would consider themselves engaged at this point. But I didn't. Afterall, he hadn't asked me yet. I did start planning a few things. We set a date. I called the temple and found out it would be closed for cleaning. We live in Utah. There are other temples. But this was a huge disappointment for me. When I was little, my mom would bake bread in the mornings and we would sell it door-to-door. We did this to earn money for the temple budget. When the Jordan River temple was being built, we would observe its progress every week when we went to the library. At the time it was completed, we could see it from our front porch. I had to stand on the milk box to see it, but there it was. (Since that time they've built a lot of houses and the trees have grown to maturity which blocks our view...but we know it's there.) I love the Jordan River temple. I had always planned to be married there. This might sound silly, but I thought it would be cool if the temple, wedding luncheon, and reception, as well as my parents' house were all technically within walking distance of each other. Think of the environmental responsibility that demonstrates! But that's okay. I reserved our wedding date in the Mount Timpanogos temple, which is also quite lovely. Personally I think the Timpanogos grounds provide better photo opportunities than the Jordan River. And inside, it's the same ceremony.

That was a little side trip.

I had a couple other disappointments the two days after Father's Day. On Monday night, we shopped for wedding rings. I hate shopping. It was high pressure and low success. I came home agitated. On Tuesday, I had some free time. I decided to go shopping for a wedding dress wondering if this would cheer me up. If you know me, you will know how stupid it is for me to think that shopping would cheer me. But I found a dress in less than an hour. It was only $100. (You have to know me really well to know how important it was that every aspect of my wedding was incredibly inexpensive.) So, by Tuesday evening, I was feeling a bit cheerier. But I was so tired and emotionally drained.

Chris came over after work on Tuesday, June 22. He suggested we go up the canyon. I said I was tired. I said I was exhausted. I said I was emotionally drained. I said, "Can't we just rent a movie and stay home?" How clueless can a person be? Couldn't I see that perhaps he had planned to propose? He had just asked my dad's permission. We had been ring shopping. I love to go up the canyon. I usually don't need an excuse. But whatever. That's the weirdest part of the story.

We ended up at Brick Oven for dinner. Delicious pizza and homemade root beer. It's still a favorite spot for our family. And now they've got that awesome balloon guy. While we waited for our pizza, we played one of those little "test your reflexes" games. Also called "hitting each others' hands." All of a sudden, Chris grabbed my hands across the table. He said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Wait." He grabbed a ring he had hooked on a caribiner on his belt loop. Then he put the ring on my finger and said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Yes."

The ring was not the ring I wear now. It was a handcarved wooden ring--engraved with hibiscus (Hawaii's state flower). I thought it was beautiful. Chris had ordered it when we had only been dating for two weeks. People had some strange reactions when I showed them my ring. Many said, "A wooden ring? He is perfect for you." Others said, "A wooden ring? And you said yes?" Neal's reaction was my favorite. He said, "And is he planning to someday get you a proper metal ring?" The answer is yes. I wore my wooden ring until our wedding. Then I wore my proper metal one on my left hand and my favorite wooden one on my right hand until it broke. I still have it, but can't wear it because it is broken. For future reference, metal lasts longer than wood.

Again, I apologize for my long-windedness. The end.

Lemonade for sale, 50 cents a cup!

I think it was originally Ammon's idea. But Sarah is the squeaky wheel. Or she is the one who gets things done. Or she is the straw that broke the camera's back. However you look at it, Sarah was insistent that Monday was the day for a lemonade stand. By the time we got home from the store, it was past 4:00 p.m. We had plans at 6:00. That's not a lot of time. But the kids said they would like to sell lemonade for a few minutes anyway. They made the signs. I set the price at 50 cents. They were thinking more along the lines of $5/cup. We squeezed and squeezed and taste-tested and finally Sarah said it was ready.

They set up the table (all by themselves) and I thought, "They're not going to sell a thing." I called a neighbor and asked him to come by and buy a cup. I was still on the phone when I looked out the window and saw a jeep full of people had stopped. They were counting their coins and Sarah was trying to pour the lemonade. Then I looked out the window again and the next-door neighbor was there. After 30 minutes or so, when the neighbor I had asked to come finally got there, he and his son got the very last cups. The kids had made $7! It almost (but not quite)covers the cost of the lemons, but that is entirely beside the point. What a great afternoon they had. It's one of those must-do's of childhood. And now we can check it off. All that's left is Disneyland.

In celebration...

"I marvel at the miracle of America, the land which the God of Heaven long ago declared to be a land choice above all other lands." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." --Bill Clinton

"America has been another name for opportunity." --Frederick J. Turner

"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." --John Updike

"The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation." --Jimmy Carter

"I would like to appeal to the Latter-day Saints ...that we pray for the president of the United States. He is our president. He needs our faith and prayers." --Ezra Taft Benson

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent." --Abraham Lincoln

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin

"To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race." --Calvin Coolidge (attributed)

"Freedom is never given; it is won." --A. Philip Randolph

"America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." --Alexis de Tocqueville

"Intellectually I know America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." --Sinclair Lewis

"God bless America, for she is His creation." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"I love America for her great and brawny strength. I love her for her generous heart. I love her for her tremendous spiritual strengths. She is unique among the nations of the earth--in her discovery, in her birth as a nation, in the amalgamation of the races that have come to her shores, in the strength of her government, in the goodness of her people." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." --Abraham Lincoln

"Nations that truly love freedom love God. We in this land have a heritage of freedom. It has rewarded us beyond our brightest dreams. Our God-given freedom, a basic principle of religious truth, is still the most powerful force on the face of the earth." --Ezra Taft Benson

"The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf. And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored." --George Washington

"You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American." --Woodrow Wilson

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harobors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power." --Alexis de Tocqueville

"Every right carries with it a responsibility. Every opportunity is a challenge. Just as we in the United States have been the most favored of any nation in our heritage, so we bear the greatest responsibility to protect and to pass on these blessings to others." --Ezra Taft Benson

"We should support our government in keeping the flame of liberty burning in the souls of the oppressed--wherever they may be throughout the world." --Ezra Taft Benson

"None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free." --Pearl S. Buck

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiiness." --Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence