Lego Shop

My kids have been playing something they call Lego Shop. When they first started, Beth wasn't playing with them. She has since joined, but I haven't taken any more pictures. The basic idea is they sell Legos to each other (for other Legos). I like the way Nathan set up his shop.

Ammon's somewhat messy shop:

Nathan's organized shop:

And Sarah's:

Thanksgiving

The past couple years, I have written daily Thanksgiving posts during the month of November. At other times in my life, I have kept gratitude journals--sometimes in November, sometimes (shockingly!) at various times of the year. I love doing these things. I wanted to do daily Thanksgiving posts again this year. It's incredibly beneficial to me and my state of mind going into the holiday season. However, it didn't get done. Lots isn't getting done in my life. Today, I sat with the kids and made Grateful Lists. My idea was that Beth would come up with six things, since she is 6-years-old; Nathan would have a list of eight things, since he is 8; etc. I think you get the idea. That worked for Nathan and Beth. Sarah and Ammon saw what I was doing--an ABC list--and chose to do it that way. Here are our lists:

Beth:
1. Mommy
2. Daddy
3. Family
4. Sky
5. God
6. Jesus

Nathan:
1. Mom
2. Dad
3. Me
4. T.V.
5. Beth
6. Sarah
7. Ammon
8. My home

Sarah:
Ammon
Beth
Christ
Dad
Eden
Family
God
Hopping
Ice Cream
Jam
Kelani
Love
Mom
Nathan
Orange
Phones
Quimbys (She's enjoying Beverly Cleary right now.)
Rain
Sarah
Time
Umbrellas
Vacations
Woods
X-rays
Yo-yos
Zoos

Ammon:
America
Beauty
Cats
Dad
Elisabeth
Forest
Good food
Health
Ice cream
Jell-o
Kit Kats
Love
Mom
Nathan
October
Priesthood
Quillows
Rocky Road
Sarah
Trees
Umbrellas
Vacations
Water
X-ray
Yummy food
Zoology

Me, Megan:
Ammon (who has a quiet desire to be the best he can possibly be.)

Bible (and other revealed scripture, a peaceful guide to living.)

Chris (I'm grateful for him more and more every day.)

Democracy (Even after a bitter and emotionally painful year when I became exhausted with the election cycle, I am deeply grateful for democracy.)

Elisabeth (who has a gentle nature.)

Family (both immediate and extended. I love every single one.)

God (Who is aware of me and loves me.)

Home (We were without a home for a while this year and the Lord blessed us with a home that is better than we could have imagined. I walk around in it filled with gratitude to be here.)

Illustrations (I love art in general, but I have a special love for children's picture books filled with beautiful illustrations.)

Jesus Christ (my Lord and Savior. I depend on His mercy daily.)

Knowledge (I'm very grateful for my own education and the process of educating my children.)

Love (I am in awe at the love we have been shown the last several months.)

Mountains (I love the beauty of the earth!)

Nathan (who makes me laugh and always looks out for others.)

Oceans (Again--I love the beauty of the earth!)

Parents (I have the very best ones. I'm also grateful for my in-laws.)

Quiet time (Awww . . . . )

Reading (a favorite past time both alone and with the children.)

Sarah (who is creative, giving, and always has a party up her sleeve.)

Trees (Our new home--New York--is breathtaking.)

United States (I believe in America. I believe in the goodness of America.)

Volcanoes (I love the various exciting things found on the earth!)

Water (Oh, I love clean drinking water. I'm so grateful to live where we have easy access to it.)

Xylophone (a bit lame, but you think of something that starts with X! I am grateful for music, in its many forms.)

Yesterday (My yesterdays have shaped who I am. I treasure my memories.)

Zoos (I love animals. I love to see animals. But I don't like to touch animals. Therefore, I love zoos.)

School curriculum

I asked the kids to make lists of the subjects they'd like to study in school. I want to make sure we're meeting their interests. I enjoyed their lists. I've decided that #1 subject to study is spelling. I will correct their spelling when I duplicate their lists below.

Ammon
1. science
2. technology
3. physics
4. astronomy
5. mythology
6. psychology
7. art
8. poetry
9. human anatomy
10. biology
11. legends

Sarah
1. science
2. math and stuff
3. physics
4. art
5. poetry
6. astronomy
7. technology

Nathan
1. science
2. math
3. history

Beth listed hers through pictures.
1. this person is watching tv
2. this person is doing yoga
3. this person is doing yoga, too
4. this person is looking at the blue, blue sky
5. She drew a group of people. One was speaking via a word bubble. Ammon had written the words for her. "I just wanna sit around doin' nothing."

I think we'll do a little of all of that.

It's working tonight

And here she is:

Halloween

I admit freely that enjoying Halloween has been a learned, acquired skill during the last few years. I think I have had fun near Halloween once or twice. This year, however, I felt like all celebrations were obligatory. I'm sorry. I tried to enjoy it. But, there you have it. Complete honesty. Anyway, the kids, as always, had a blast. I didn't help with their costumes. They had to come up with stuff from around the house. They're cute.

This is before the church trunk-or-treat... (word to the wise: Elvis costumes get pretty chilly during an autumn evening in Utah.)

But, before we went trick-or-treating, Sarah decided that she and Beth should dress as hula twins:

I hope your holiday was fun. :)

...I would buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel)

Sarah plans to be a billionaire when she grows up. She talks often about all of her plans for her money. For example, she plans to have around 29 children. They will each have their own bedroom and bathroom. She also talks about all of her plans to make that money. Her career goals are diverse and include being a dance teacher, hair stylist, teacher, and security guard.

The other day, Ammon very seriously told Sarah, "I know how you can earn a billion dollars. You should work at Cafe Rio. They've won over 60 awards!!"

I guess he's got a point...

Hair today...

Ah...hair.

Let's go ahead with my life story--as it pertains to hair. My mom likes short hair. She always has. She had five (5) daughters and kept our hair short. We had cute little bobs--and by "bob," I mean sometimes it would get as long as the bottom of our ears, but not often. During the 80s, we had short, permed hair. Always short. When I got old enough to make my own hair choices, my hair got longer and longer (except when Mom would trim it). I have become emotionally attached to hair. It's pretty bad. I resist getting a trim because I'm afraid my hair will never grow back. During some sort of identity/mid-life crisis (pregnant with my 3rd and turning 30), I chopped my hair to just above my shoulders. It was among the worst mistakes of my life. Man, I hated that.

So, I have my own children now. I guess I've assumed I was giving them a great gift to let them (the girls) have long hair. As it turns out, they don't care as much as I do. I don't think they care at all. Sarah has repeatedly cut her own hair (though not for at least a year). Lately, it's been looking very pretty--almost to her waist. I love it. Beth's hair was just past her shoulders. It's still pretty thin, but it was pretty because she is pretty.

Well, last week my life changed. It all started when I noticed Beth had received a trim. On Facebook, I referred to it as a "mullet," but that may have been a slight exaggeration. Nathan cut her hair. His only response when I asked if he had done it: "She wanted me to!" Beth was delighted. The front of her hair was short. I didn't take pictures because I'm not sure you could tell there was a problem from a photo. The problem is that Beth's hair is so fine (like mine) and thin that those short hairs in the front were constantly filled with static and clinging to her head. It looked pretty bad. So, I decided it was time for haircuts. The boys needed them anyway and Sarah could stand a trim.

Back to my life story. My mom loves to cut hair. She started cutting hair when she was 11. She cut our hair while we were growing up. She enjoys it. Can you imagine how much money she saved by home haircuts? Eight kids--and never paying for a haircut. When I had kids, I was sure I could follow suit. I would be provident, self-sufficient, and frugal! I learned to cut hair. I think I know how to do the basics. And I have cut their hair for years. It takes me approximately three hours to cut two boys' heads of hair. It is the most miserable thing I have to do (and that includes cleaning toilets). I'm not sure I can express how much I hate it. But I hate spending money even more. Last Saturday, I was gearing up for the horrible task of cutting hair. But Chris (my knight in white armor--or as he would say, "Make that brown armor") came to my rescue and said we had enough money to go to the professionals.

All four kids got their hair cut. Ammon's and Nathan's looked terrific. Sarah got a nice trim and marched out to the car in tears. She was so angry. She had felt pressured and overwhelmed when she was forced to make a decision about how she wanted her hair. She wanted it shorter. So, we went back in. I was shocked. My daughter--my own flesh and blood--chopped off her beautiful hair. It's still long enough that most people don't even notice a difference. But I'm pretty sure she cut off about eight inches. She was beaming with confidence and joy when it was finished.

The stylist told me we wouldn't have to cut Beth's hair that much, so she just trimmed it, assuming the layers would blend. But Beth has very fine hair and an enormous static problem. There was no blending. There never is. (Trust me, I've tried on my own head.) The whole head had to be shorter. It just wasn't short enough. This is coming from me! I thought it needed to be shorter! Beth wanted it to her ears. So, she also got another haircut--this time by my mom. Super-short.

Another part of my life story. About a year and a half ago, on Thanksgiving day 2009, to be exact, my sister thought she'd give me a helping hand by cutting Nathan's hair for me. I was relieved. I hate to cut hair. And then I walked into the room and saw her giving my son a buzz cut! Now I know, a lot of people like buzz cuts on little boys. A lot of people like them on bigger boys. I am not one of those people. I was beside myself to see what my sister did to my boy. He had such beautiful hair. But eventually, it grew back and he looked normal again. Apparently, last week, Nathan decided he liked the way it felt when he rubbed his hand across his head after his buzz cut. So, just days after spending oodles of money at the salon, Nathan cut his own hair. The result? I had to buzz him.

Wow, that was a long explanation. Now for pictures.

Sarah before.

Sarah now. 

Bethie before.

Bethie now. 

Nathan's self-cut.

Nathan now. 

Ammon. 

The end.

Service Week

There's been an unusual amount of grumpiness and fighting at our house lately. We are battling this by having a service week. Each day, we draw a name out of a hat and do a small act of service for that person. Day one went very well. Chris went grocery shopping for me. I made Beth's bed. Beth gave Nathan a homemade card that said, "Beth loves Nathan." Sarah made a big BYU poster for Chris. Nathan cut pictures out of the Ensign magazine of the temple and the prophet and apostles to give to Ammon. I wasn't sure how Ammon would react to that, but he was genuinely grateful. He put them in a special place to treasure. Ammon whipped up a little poem for Sarah. This was especially sweet since Sarah was having an extremely bad day and feeling worthless. Would you like to hear the poem?

Ode to Sarah by Ammon
Flowers bloom and the stars and moon shine
But you know my sister, she's really quite fine.
She's cool and you know she really is keen.
If she lived on Naboo, I'd elect her as queen.

Honestly, isn't that the sweetest thing? Doesn't it make you wish you had a brother who would write you a little poem when you were feeling down? Even me, I have a brother just like that. I keep a poem, written many years ago when I was having a bad day, in my scriptures where I can read it whenever I want. It makes me smile.

Grandpa's birthday

We celebrated my father's birthday earlier this week. Beth took the time to decorate for the party. She wrapped her favorite winter scarf around the leg of a kitchen chair. It was lovely. And festive.

Then she went downstairs and wrapped Scotch tape around two of her fingers. She showed me the taped fingers and said, "Now I can shoot lightning out of my fingers for Grandpa's party!" That's just what everyone wants for their birthday.

I let Sarah and Nathan wrap the wonderful gift. They did a great job. When Grandpa opened it, he found that there was a second layer of wrapping paper. Sarah giggled and Nathan rolled with laughter. I'm pretty sure nothing could have been funnier. Ever. Not even clowns. Or dancing bananas.

Grandpa unwrapped the second layer. Guess what? There was another layer. I know, you can hardly read this for laughing so hard. At least, that's how it was for Nathan. Grandpa kept unwrapping...and unwrapping...and unwrapping. There were about 6 layers of paper.

Sarah said, "I wanted to wrap it 66 times (Grandpa's age), but that would waste paper." She's a true environmentalist, that one.

A true professional

Sarah told me, "I'm going to make a great psychiatrist when I grow up. I'm really good at it."

Then she told this story. "Beth came to me with a real problem and I solved it! She said, 'I keep sticking out my tongue at people and I can't stop.'" So, I taped her mouth shut. Problem solved."

What a day!

At dinner, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was.

Beth: When Daddy held me.
Nathan: CANDY!!!
Sarah: Bar graphs! (math assignment today)
Ammon: Learning that a rattlesnake's rattler is made of the same stuff as fingernails!

I think it's obvious that Nathan is Mini-Chris and Sarah is Mini-Me.

Thank goodness for Sarah!

Sarah reacts quickly.

I'm so glad she does. A couple of years ago, we went to Hawai'i to visit Chris' mom and stepdad. The pool at their condo didn't really have a "shallow" end, so the kids (who didn't know how to swim) wore floatation devices to paddle around the pool. One evening, Nathan was so excited to get back in the water (the beach and ocean hadn't been enough for him, apparently), he jumped in the pool before he got his floaties on. He immediately sank right to the bottom. Sarah was standing on the steps and without even thinking, reached down to grab Nathan. She pulled him to safety and resumed her playing. She was five years old. Nathan was almost three. She saved the little fellah before any adults noticed what had happened. Except me, of course. I noticed but I was across the way and Sarah is faster.

Today, I heard Sarah yell (dramatically), "MOM!! Bethie's choking!" I ran downstairs and found Bethie fine, but a little scared. She had been lying on her back with a Magnetix ball in her mouth. It's the size of a marble. She was choking, but fast-acting Sarah noticed, yelled, helped her, and solved the problem. Bethie needed a hug, some water, and to tell Grandma what had happened. Then she was fine.

I'm glad I have Sarah around.

Just a word or two about Sarah

One of Sarah's talents is the gift to teach. She teaches very naturally. The other day, She took Beth and started to teach her to read--they were sounding out words together. Then, Sarah decided it was time for art class. I always find it entertaining when my children play school, especially when they set up a proper classroom with desks and a teacher at the blackboard. (It's funny because, since we homeschool, that's not the "classroom" they are familiar with.)

It was Sarah's turn to teach the lesson for our Family Home Evening on Monday night. She chose a couple of stories from the Friend magazine (a children's magazine distributed by our church). I read them with her and she chose which one she wanted to teach. When it came time, Sarah read the entire article (even though I told her to tell the story in her own words). I'm just kidding about sounding exasperated. I think it's wonderful that Sarah is reading an entire article aloud and all by herself. The story was about a little girl who was asked to give a talk during primary. She was so nervous, but decided to do it anyway. She prayed and found that Heavenly Father gave her the courage and the strength to give her talk. She said that if God could help her with that, she knew He could help her with anything.

Sarah finished the story, and then asked the question she had prepared: "Have any of you ever had something like that happen to you?" (She had written her question down so she would know how to teach the lesson.) We gave a few examples, and then Sarah said, "I will tell you when Heavenly Father has helped me to do something that is hard. Well, it's more of a list. He helped me to get through my first piano recital. He is helping me learn to control my temper."

I thought it was so sweet and so very sincere.

A note about Sarah's recital: Sarah has performed before small, family audiences often. But in December, she had her first official piano recital. She was so nervous. Soooo nervous. Bless her little heart. On the way to the recital hall, she said, "I'm just going to get up there and say, 'I've worked really hard, so don't judge me.'" She had worked very hard. Playing the piano doesn't flow easily to Sarah. We prayed that she would have courage to play what she had practiced. And she played her song beautifully.

And now a note about Sarah's temper: Sarah has struggled with anger her whole life. We don't know why. It's just a challenge she faces. We've tried many things to help her learn to control her outbursts. I think it's okay for her to feel anger; she just needs to learn to express it appropriately. Last year, Sarah and I were determined that she make significant progress on her anger management before she was baptized. She worked very hard and prayed quite a lot about it. She's not perfect now, but sometimes I have to remind myself that she was ever as difficult as she was. She, with the help of her Savior, is mastering her tendency to be mean.

Sarah is a sincere, sweet child. I am so grateful she is learning to rely on her Savior while she is so young. If she remembers these lessons, her whole life will be better.

Merry Christmas!

Here it is Christmas Eve. Let me tell you my great plans for December. First, I was going to blog about our wonderful Thanksgiving. Then, I thought I'd do a Christmas advent--a daily post about Christmas. That didn't work out, so I thought I'd do the 12 Days of Christmas instead. Well, Day 12 came and went, and I thought, "Who's keeping track anyway? I'll do the 5 Days of Christmas! It will be spectacular."

And here it is Christmas Eve.

We have had a lot going on this month: normal Christmas things, extra concerts, oral surgery for Ammon, sick kids, church, work, etc. It's been very busy, but so wonderful. I love my children, who make everything happy.

I am grateful that we took the time to go to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights early in December. It was beautiful, relatively warm, and good family time for us. Maybe I have some pictures. Let me check. Yes, yes I do. Most of these were taken by Sarah or Beth or maybe even one of the boys.

So, that was fun.

I had planned to do all sorts of crafts with the children. We did a couple things. Like snowflakes, and origami:

I love paper. Do you know that about me? I LOVE PAPER! I love to make things with paper. So, origami=fun!

We also made some gingerbread men for neighbor gifts. I made them Hawai'ian kane and wahine. (That means men and women.) And the note said Mele Kalikimaka. (That means Merry Christmas.) They make me laugh. And I bet they make you wish you were my neighbor.

All of our Christmas decorations are in storage. My mom is allergic to real trees. I like real. But I go with fake for her sake. (That rhymes. Rhyming makes me smile.) We just used one of Mom's little trees and made new ornaments for it. I don't know if you can see the paper chain, but it was surprisingly time consuming to make!

We've been hanging up all our Christmas cards on the bricks behind the fireplace. As you may nor may not be able to tell, they have almost all fallen down. It has been a steady rainstorm of Christmas cards. I think that I will have a contest to see whose card stays up the longest. That person or family will win a special prize. A special Christmas prize. A special Christmas prize that is like an imaginary box filled with love.

We also had a family party. Santa came.

Santa looks pretty animated...

Hmmm...that's a tough question. What do I want for Christmas?

I don't know what to say.

I'd like a light saber and a chainsaw! (Yes, that's what he asked for.)

So, that's our month in a nutshell.

I love Christmas! The season is filled with joy and happiness. No matter how busy I am, an overwhelming peace is in my heart. I feel to celebrate with all Christians the birth of the Savior!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently said:

When Jesus was born, the joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds “good tidings of great joy, . . . praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

I love the image of joy being so great, it could not be contained in heaven. We celebrate all month long this glorious season.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and loves each of us. It is the gift of our Heavenly Father that He sent His Son to earth for our salvation.

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." (2 Corinthians 9:15)

And Halloween

When my kids were little, I loved to create and sew their costumes for Halloween. Then I had a fourth child and something had to give. I guess (through default) I gave up homemade Halloween costumes. I also gave up on laundry, but that's a different story for a different time.

Usually, the children wear hand-me-downs from cousins or whatever they can come up with on their own. But this year was so exciting! Grandma Suzie was visiting from Hawai'i. We were walking through a store looking for winter coats for the boys and we saw a beautiful Cinderella dress--just in Beth's size. Well, who can pass that up? Not Grandma! Before we knew it, she had bought the kids their dream costumes! They've played in them for the last month, so the costumes are already a bit worn. But really, what is the point of preserving a costume for one night? Dress-ups are fun.

Sarah's Special Day

Sarah had a beautiful day the day of her baptism and confirmation. She is such a wonderful little girl. She has been preparing herself for this day. She felt that she should work on her temper and learning to control her anger. She felt that she should try to be nicer to her siblings. She came up with her goals on her own, and she has progressed so much in the past few months. Sarah's Grandma Suzie couldn't come the day of her baptism, but she came the week before. She brought Sarah a special dress. Much of Chris' family who live in California came out for the weekend. My family was also very supportive. After Sarah was baptized, I went in to help her get dressed. She looked at me and started crying. She said, "I love you so much, Mom. Thank you for teaching me how to get baptized." I love her, too.

Eight years of Sarah...

Today is Sarah's birthday. She had a wonderful day. Her grandma is visiting from Hawaii. Grandma has a way of making Sarah feel special. Chris escaped from work for an hour so we could have a party and Grandpa and Grandma Rawlins were sure to shower Sarah with love. Even though he didn't feel well, Ammon went out of his way to make a banner and party hats and do anything he could to make Sarah's day special. Nathan and Beth have been keeping Sarah entertained all day. Sarah has a way of demanding special treatment. She's a sweet girl and was very excited to receive gifts of things she could make and do. Would you like to see how she has grown over the years?

2002: She's a pretty little newborn. (At 9 lbs 8 oz, she was anything but little.)

Age 1 and loving her cake.

Age 2: I love that her attitude comes out in her face.

Age 3: with Ammon

I can't believe this is the best picture I have of her 4th birthday.

Future reference: 4-years-old is too young for a friend party.

Flamingos are still Sarah's favorite animal.

Her Cinderella costume is still hanging around--a little worse for wear.

I love her.

What? Another flamingo? No wonder she didn't want a flamingo today.

Sarah makes our lives colorful.

We are blessed to have her in our family.