Sleepovers with cousins used to be one of my favorite activities.  My kids don't get the chance to do it nearly as often as I did, but when they do, they love it!  Tonight they get to stay at my mom and dad's with Rylie, Kenzie, and Manda.  It's a fun site to see these 5 cousins bundled up and sleeping at grandmas.

Food Chain

Tonight's conversation with Brandt while we were doing a puzzle and watching a documentary on big cats in Africa ('cause what else would a 6 yr old little boy want to watch? lol) got interesting when the cat was chasing it's hopeful dinner.
Me: Run little gazelle, run!!
Brandt: Mom, it's called the food chain, ya know.
Me: ok, you're right, but I don't like watching it.  One day there won't be a food chain anymore, ya know.
Brandt: yeah huh, when Jesus is on earth again the animals will eat grass-that's a food chain.  It's a short one, but it's still a food chain.
Hahahahaha!  Right you are, again, Buddy!  It got even funnier from there when he poked out his bottom lip and started lamenting about not being able to eat meat when that day comes.  "I'll be sad when we can't eat meat anymore.  I'm a carnivore.  Meat's my favorite food."  Oh, the drama! :)

It was a special day in Primary today as Kylie had her first part in opening as a Sunbeam; she had the scripture and Brandt had the talk. Buddy was excited to help his sister and prepared ahead of time by marking his scriptures and telling her he would be the one to help her say it.  On the other hand, he was not excited about giving a talk and refused to prepare anything because he "was too frightened."  During sacrament meeting he changed his mind and decided to have me help him write down a talk to go with these puppets that he pulled out of my church bag.  When the time came, Kylie, who had practiced ahead of time, refused to say one word of her scripture despite her brother trying to help her.  Buddy gave his entire talk by himself-it seemed to calm his nerves that I had written it down for him and he could read it. He was pretty proud of himself, especially since grandma and grandpa came in to listen to him.  I was proud of him for coming up with his own talk and then being brave enough to do it.

"Heavenly Father commanded Nephi to build a boat.  Nephi didn't know how to build a boat but he followed Heavenly Father's command.  Laman and Lemuel-they thought Nephi couldn't build a boat and they wanted to throw him into the sea.  Heavenly Father protected Nephi and shocked Laman and Lemuel when they tried to grab him.  Then they repented and helped Nephi build a boat.  I want to try to be like Nephi."

This afternoon the kids got a special surprise when Mitch and Max Lauridsen came over with their mom, Cindy, for a visit.  Both kids were excited to hang out with them and show them things-Kylie dragged out nearly every stuffed animal they have and Buddy was happy to show them his guitar and Missy, the puppy.  Brandt and Kylie have come to love them as much as I have.  Every time I have the opportunity to be around them and see what good boys they are, I can't help but miss their grandma Ann and think how proud of them she must still be.  She always loved telling me about how they were doing in sports and school.  She loved John and Cindy and both boys so much and she credited them with being the most important thing to her. I'd say she had that part of life figured out pretty well-family is the most important thing.

Our Saturday has been a pretty typical one filled with ups and downs, messes and misunderstandings, dancing in the living room and dressing up like pirates, floods from "swimming" in the bath tub and "swabbing the deck" in the kitchen, and much more.  There have been proud mama moments when buddy folded his own clothes and then vacumed-something that seems so simple but we never thought would happen because of his hypersensitivity and phobia of the noise, and then he made his bed without being asked.  Yes, those ordinary primary answers like "make your bed" or "clean your room" really do make moms happy.  As I sit and type this, I hear Kylie and Brandt arguing over whether cats have fur or not, and while their little fights  might annoy some, I smile and enjoy listening to them as they learn how to work it out.  Already they have moved on and are pretending to be a dog and a cat who are chasing each other through the house and giggling hysterically. It's too bad that adults can't work things out that quickly and it seems ironic to me that we are the ones who are supposed to be teaching our children.  Just a few minutes ago I heard Kylie say to her brother, "Jesus wants us to do that."  I'm not 100% sure what "that" was at the moment, but how thankful I am that my kids know their Savior and want to follow His example.

Brandt has been wanting a guitar for a long time (mostly because of seeing Andy Hackbarth in concert a couple times and LOVING him), so during the summer we started a sticker chart for him to be able to earn one.  He finally finished filling it up today and we were able to give him the guitar that I bought for him a few months ago and have kept hidden at my mom's.  He was so excited and immediately started strumming on it and trying to work out some tunes.  We are hoping to get him started with some lessons now.  I believe music is one of the most powerful creations on earth.  It can move us in ways that nothing else can-for both good and evil.  I've noticed that Brandt is especially effected by music so I've tried to introduce him to a variety of good types of music in hopes that it can influence him for the better.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this interest might take him; I'm hoping that he'll stick with it long enough to develop the talent that I already see in him.

Nitro Circus

For Christmas I got Bryce tickets to Nitro Circus at the Energy Solutions Center and this was the weekend.  The show was amazing and so much fun to watch!  I also got a hotel room so we spent the night and then spent a little time at Temple Square before heading home.  We were able to take a few minutes and sit up by the Christus which is my absolute favorite part of Temple Square. It was nice to have a little time away from the kids to spend some quality time with each other.

I knew it was going to be a great day when Brandt coped with his anxiety about going to school enough to get on the bus this morning for the first time since Christmas break, and this further proves it. Kylie went to sleep in a bed (yes, it wasn't her own, but it's a baby step) without me or her dad holding her for the first time in months. We have tried everything to get her to not be scared of going to sleep since she started having nightmares a few months ago. She finally started telling me about some of her dreams and the biggest culprit is her imaginary friend, Tahnee, who apparently turns into a T-Rex at night and scratches Kylie's face as well as the rest of her body.  Today our counselor, Shaun Tobler, tried EMDR therapy with her since it worked perfectly for the separation anxiety we were dealing with at preschool, and so far so good! Now hopefully she will stay asleep all night and continue to go to bed on her own! Prayers are answered in mysterious ways.  I am one happy mama (who desperately needs some sleep)!

Kylie Thompson-Head Start VIP

Kylie is the VIP at preschool this week so she helped make a poster about herself to hang up in the classroom for the week.  She also got to decorate a crown to wear and she gets to sit on a special chair during rug time.  She already loves her teachers and friends at preschool, and this made it even more special for her.  She may be their VIP for the week, but she's our VIP forever!

Favorite Song: I am a Child of God

Favorite Colors: Purple and Pink

Favorite Foods: Steak and Chicken Nuggets

Favorite Animals: Puppies, Horses, Grandpa's Fish

Favorite Thing to Do: Dance, Jump on Trampoline

Favorite Books:  I Love You, Little One and Sophia the First

Favorite Places to Go: Beach, Pool, Grandma's

Favorite Movies:  The Little Mermaid, Frozen, Cinderella, Tangled

Back to Reality and Tender Mercies

  Brandt went back to school today for the first time since Christmas.  Yesterday was the first day in a week that he didn't have a fever and even though he still coughs, especially when he runs around, it was definitely time for him to go back. Unfortunately, his anxiety is telling him otherwise. Last night was a bit rough-he went to bed pretty well, but he kept waking up crying for the first hour or so.  This morning he wasn't very happy about getting up, so I bribed him by letting him play on his tablet as soon as he was ready for school.  That worked until it was time to head out for the bus and then he melted into a puddle and sobbed, saying he couldn't go and that he would miss me too much.  The bus was still waiting, so he ran back into my bedroom to "get something to remember [me] by" and came out with some of my bracelets in hand.  Then he fell to the floor sobbing again.  By then the bus moved on and I was left with a very sad little boy who didn't want to go to school.  So I did what a lot of desperate moms probably do-I yelled.  When that didn't work (like it ever really does- duh) I turned to bribing, or as I like to think of it, incentivizing.  I bargained with him that if he would go to school I would pick him up afterward and take him to the wrestling match-just me and him.  He's been waiting for months to go watch Mitch Lauridsen wrestle, so this was a pretty good bribe.  There were a lot more tears, but eventually he made it to school, and I made good on my promise with some help from my family. My mom kept Kylie until Bryce was done with chores and Maleri let buddy ride the bus home with Jolie and then brought him to town with her when Allee came over for gymnastics.

   The absolute highlight of the day came when Mitch, who is a senior and a varsity wrestler came up into the stands not too long after pinning his opponent (in like 40 seconds I might add) and gave my Brandt the biggest hug. He then held him for a few minutes and talked to him and didn't even seem the slightest bit embarrassed that a 6 year old was making funny noises and tickling him in front of the home crowd as well as his teammates who were milling around. It was such a tender mercy at the end of what started out to be a really stressful day with buddy.  Brandt was on cloud 9 and couldn't wait to get home and tell his dad and sister all about it.  Once again, we are so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people!

 Brandt and Kylie love doing art projects (AKA making huge messes).  They also love reading and spending time with grandpa.  So it's a happy day when they get to do a little of all of those things.  I had to capture a picture of my dad reading because it isn't something I've seen many times... :)