Samuel the Lamanite

The other morning I got home from the "Y" (no, not BYU, the YMCA) after working out and was greeted at the door by Rob. He smiled at me, with a beam of pride and amusement in his eyes, and beckoned me to the kitchen where the children were playing. I rounded the corner only to see the children had built some towers with their blocks. I impatiently looked at Rob and said, oh so rudely, "So?" Rob completely ignoring my rudeness and said,"Gabe, why don't you tell Mommy what you have built." Gabe looked up, smiled and said, "Look Mom, it's Samuel the Lamanite."




It took me a second but I then understood what he meant. He had built the wall that Samuel the Lamanite had stood on while preaching to the Nephites. I was immediately repentant and thanked Rob for sharing that with me and we stood for a moment together, basking in pride that only a parent can feel when they realize their child is amazingly, amazing.

I later questioned Gabe on what he knew about Samuel the Lamanite. He told me that "Samuel went up on the wall and the bad guys threw things at him but they didn't hurt him because Heavenly Father helped him and then he ran away." It then dawned on me why he remembered the story so well.......Gabe loves bad guy/good guy stories. In fact, he is widely known, both at church and school, for his story telling capabilities. The other day he informed me that at circle time at school, he had shared the story of "when Jesus died on the cross" with his teachers and pupils (Gabe's favorite movie right now is The Testaments). At first I was a little embarrassed by it (especially because not too long ago he told his teacher, "Jesus told my mom that it's not good for me to ride the bus anymore," and I worry they will think we are part of some weird religious cult.......he, he, he) but now I realize that I have just been given the opportunity to see a glimpse of what an awesome missionary he will be. We are so proud of Gabe and his ability to open up and befriend people. He is not ashamed of who he is and what he has learned and we think he's great. Hopefully we won't mess him up and one day he will share his stories with people all over the world.

Adventures in COUPONING!

Okay, so I am not going to go off on this forever but I am just so darned excited over my most recent hobby. That is right, my most resent hobby is couponing! It may sound a little time consuming but I save a TON of money on my groceries and non-foods items. For example, I did, indeed, get 18 bottles of Aussie shampoo and conditioner for only .33 cents a bottle. Last week, I got 20 boxes of General Mills cereal at Albertsons for FREE. That's right, I said FREE! In total, I walked away from the store with $248 of food for only $56, and I did it all with three children in tow (bless the cashier at Albertson's, she was so patient with us). After the bag boy helped me out to my car he said, "WoW! I have never seen someone save so much money." I was beaming with pride. In fact, when Rob and I went back there the other day to just get a roast for Sunday dinner, we saw the same bag boy. He smiled at me and asked if I had brought any more money saving coupons with me. Rob thought it was hysterical (he is always teasing me about the strange looks I get from the other people who are checking out). To me....there was no greater compliment. Ahhhhh. How satisfying. It has actually become a fun family affair. Rob and I have done a bit of couponing after our dates and when I pick G-McBabe up from school I often get the question, "Mom, did our coupon's come today. Can we go to the store."

Seriously, I am not pro but the lady I learned it from is. She is amazing. She grocery shops, for a family of 8, for only $150-$200 a month and that includes her cleaning, hygiene, and other non-food items. CRAZY! I have her e-mail address if anyone wants to contact her and buy her $10 cd. It comes with the know how and 50 recipes that use commonly couponed items or store in the freezer well. It's great. So......if you are on the quest to save bucko-bucks, let me know.

I have the most brilliant children EVER!!!!!

Okay...so they may not be THE most brilliant but I am pretty dang proud of them. Here's the scoop. Yesterday, the kids and I took and trip to the library. We do this quite often but this time it was for a special occasion. It was Dr. Seuss's birthday. We went to go get some Dr. Seuss books so we could have a "birthday party" for him at home (since we could not make the one the school was having because Rob was at school, himself, and I was not about to drag three kids to it by myself). Anyway.....we picked up our books and headed home. We had picked up a couple of level 1 and 2 "reader" books as well. When we got home I decided to test Gabe's reading skills (so many people tell me that he can't be reading yet, he's just memorizing the books but.....hello! what is reading? The memorization of words. Duh!). So.....to get back to my story. I gave him a book that he had NEVER seen before and he began to read. Page after page after page (I did have to help him sound out a few words like "plunk, clunk and smack" but he did the rest. I WAS soooooo proud of him. It is times like these that I realize I must not be a COMPLETE failure as a mother and teacher. So.....I praised him for it and told him how proud I was of him and a miracle happened............he was so well behaved the rest of the night. Not one tantrum. Wow, it's amazing what a little positive encouragement can do. I will have to remember that!
Cael....what an amazing kid as well. He just turned two and can count to ten (loosely speaking. He always skips four and seven) and he loves to sing the ABC's. He is mommy's big helper. He is always trying to help me clean (which I forget to see it for what it is and appreciate it sometimes). He likes to sweep, pick up toys, and clean up Isaac's spit up. That's right, as disgusting as it is, he is always cleaning up Isaac's spit-up. He has crazy, fine, "floofy" hair and LOVES banana peppers and pickles.....just like his mamma!

Now Isaac, the little naughty boy is already trying to crawl and he hasn't even learned to sit up yet. We are working on it. Although it's a little difficult learning to sit up when you are constantly being bowled over by your overly affectionate older brother.

Isaac is so much fun and so smiley. He is one tough cookie too (he has to be.....again, Cael). We are so glad he is a part of our family.

(This is one of those faces Isaac makes that REALLY reminds me of Rob. Do you see it too?)

Rob continues to work very hard at work and school. ONLY THREE 1/2 semesters left (arrrrgggg). He has so much on his plate and he still makes time for us. I can tell that sometimes the load puts a lot of strain on him to the point he wants to pull his hair out (although he shouldn't, it is falling out quite nicely on it's own) but he just keeps trucking along doing his best. I appreciate him so much. Amazing......that's all I can say.

Meanwhile, I am STILL going crazy. Live is like a tornado, or a hurricane, or a whirlpool....whatever, I cant make up my mind. I am trying out new adventures in "COUPON"ing. It gives me a thrill I haven't had in a long time. In fact, this week, if all goes well, I will be getting bottles of shampoo (Aussie) and body wash (I cant remember what kind...some name brand somthing) for only 33 cents a bottle. If only my coupons would get here already............. Doesn't that sound exciting? Well it excites me to the point of nervous anxiety. I will let you know how it goes. In fact, I will write my next BLOG about it. HA HA! Blogging is great!

AND NOW I'M BACK.........

Now I have really gone and done it. I chopped it clean off! Hooray! I feel like myself again. Who was I trying to kid. I am not some diva who is all into the long, luscious locks, head turning, and three hours (okay, not that long) at the mirror trying to tame the wild beast. How good it feels to be free of, what I so affectionately called, the "lion's mane." (did it not remind y'all of one?). It will forever amaze me that the minute I chopped of the hair I felt a sense of relief, a great weight (literally about 3 lbs) lifted from my shoulders and now I am free to be me again. NO MORE PRETENDING TO BE WHAT I AM NOT (as soon as I figure out what that means I will let you know). WAAAAHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

(I know........super attractive, right?)

So.....contrary to popular belief, Rob did not shrivel up and die. I think he thought he would but, he lives on. He actually admitted that he likes it. Don't be fooled, he is still mourning his loss, but in time his hurts will heal.

Other accomplished feats: After 12 years of having only my sister cut my hair (except once when Rob's cousin Lindsay trimmed it just after Jennifer had a baby) I allowed someone else to touch it. It was painful for me (she was okay but not NEARLY as good and thorough as Jennifer) but I did it. Look at me....I'm all grown up. (sniff, sniff)