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10 Things about 10 Month old Bryson:

10: Favorite foods are pears and green beans, but he loves to eat almost anything, as long as the family is eating it, too. No baby food for this baby anymore!

9. Likes trains & trucks. He's not so interested in driving them around, just how all the parts work.

8. He wants to be big like his sister. They already spend some time playing together. He usually wants what she's got. If its a toy, or a blanket, or whatever, he wants it.

7. Loves swim lessons. Both my kids are fish.

6. Usually sleeps through the night, although, sometimes his night ends at 4:45am...

5.He's got 5 teeth, and one more coming in...


4. Likes to "monkey" across the furniture, but not that steady on his feet. He a speedy crawler and made it half way up the stairs the other day.

3. Hates the sippy cup. He doesn't want anything to do with it. Yet, he's often too distracted for nursing. It makes it hard to get him to drink anything.

2. Speaking of distracted. He loves to observe the world around him. I like to watch him as he finds new thing. You can almost see the gears in his head whirl around as he explores.

1. He's my cuddle bear. When he's tired or if he's just gotten up, or doesn't feel well, he lays his head down on my shoulder and cuddles. Its the best thing ever.

Screen Names

When you log on to websites (facebook, twitter, email, message boards, etc.), do you use the same user name? Do you have a handle that is distinctively yours? I've got two.

The more recent one I got on my mission. Most of you know it because its my email address. It seemed pretty straight forward at the time.

The other one is quite a bit older. See when we first got a computer and the internet back in the nineties, it was a much simpler time on the internet. The first website I ever was really interested in was a collection of information about the 60ies show The Monkees. They had episode info, and pictures that took forever to load, and midi files you could download of most the songs. I thought it was totally awesome.

There was also a message board & chat room. I knew nothing about screen names at the time, but as I talked to other fans about the Monkees, a new screen name for me was born. I'm not going totally give it away esp. since if you google its kind of embarrassing, but needless to say, it has to do with the Texas Prairie Chicken.

I don't really know much about the Texas Prairie Chicken, but in the later episodes of the show Mike would sometimes refer to a campaign to save the Texas Prairie Chicken. So since I was from Texas, I somehow became said chicken. I was cool with that.

As the internet evolved and I moved on, I've kept the handle for some things. Its silly, but I like it.

And that's your pointless story for today...

Bubbles

(Just a random little post I started yesterday...)

I had Doug pick a random number and this is the picture that matches up with said number. This is Sariah on our vacation to Utah last June. We had gone to the Hogle Zoo in the morning (hence the bright zebra shirt, good for not losing your child in a crowd) then that evening we had dinner with Doug's parents, Aunt and Grandparents.

Aunt Karen brought this bubble thing for Sariah to play with. She loved it. This is her first real attempts at blowing bubbles and eventually she succeeded. She was totally cute doing it, too. She had a fun day that day and often talks about that trip to Utah. Hopefully we'll get the chance to visit again soon, or at least go on another vacation!

Vampires

Apparently, the vampire look is all the rage. I wouldn't know. Personally I'm not really into that. I did read the Twilight saga, but it was like gouging my eyes out. (I personally think Bella was less annoying once she became a vampire.) I think the movies are just awful. I don't like the other vampire TV shows or movies, I don't even care for Count Dracula (I'm okay with Count Chocula and The Count on Sesame Street.)

But now I've found a vampire look I can get behind. Check it out:
BEST. VAMPIRE. EVER.

Bryson sported this look for a good month. I took this picture after the trunk or treat on Oct 29th, and now his two front teeth are growing in. I still think this is my favorite look so far.

Worth It

Today I didn't do the dishes, even though my sink is full of dirty ones.

Today I didn't fold the clothes, even though they all got washed and half of them need to be put away.

Today I didn't clean a bathroom, or make a meal plan, or go grocery shopping, even though we've got food, but none that goes together.

Today I didn't get around to packing that sack lunch for our playdate.

BUT...

Today I danced with my daughter.

Today I got to watch my kids play with friends they love while I talked with great women.

Today I worked on a sewing project while I explained things to Sariah.

Today I had a tickle war with my kids, I got down to their level and crawled with Bryson, played peek-a-boo, got covered in blankets.

Today Sariah drew me a picture, Bryson put his head on my shoulder and gave me snuggles.

Tonight my husband volunteered to go to the store with the kids and grab a couple of things so we can have a tasty dinner.

Tonight I get to go sing with a choir.


I didn't get a lot of "important" things done today, but today was totally Worth IT.

Family Home Evening

What do you do for FHE? Lately we've been going through the 13 Articles of Faith and discussing them and singing the corresponding Children song. Tonight we're on number 7. Speaking as one who barely managed to get the Articles of Faith memorized, I'm hoping to get the whole family to have them memorized eventually.

Sometimes though we've been doing fun family activities. Sometimes FHE lasts for a quick 5 minutes, but it gets done. That's the important part.

So, I'll ask again. What's your FHE like? I could always use the pointers/ideas!

Testimonies

I'm hoping to make my Sunday post a bit more on the spiritual side. I don't do enough bearing of my testimony or such late, well maybe that's not totally true, but I don't do it as much as I did when I was single. Testimonies for me are not so much the grand realization of spiritual topics like they once were. Then again, my audience has changed since I was single or a missionary. As the Primary Music Leader, and as a mom, my focus on the gospel is in much simpler terms.

Not that there's anything wrong with focusing on those basic building blocks of the gospel. The things that I teach those kids and my own children will be the foundation of their testimonies later in life. Plus it reaffirms what my own testimony is built on. That's partly why I love the children song book. The basic truths, set to music, are inside.

For example: In July, I had a friend get baptized. I was asked to give her talk on the Holy Ghost, and I was kind of excited. Not only do I love baptisms, but I was excited to talk in front of adults. Then, when I wrote my talk, I realized that the best way I could describe who the Holy Ghost is and what he does is right in the song we I had taught the kids in June called The Holy Ghost. So I used it for the base of my talk. So it wasn't some grand lofty adult themed talk like I thought it would be, but I'm thankful to know that if anyone wants to know how the Holy Ghost can influence them in their lives, they just need to learn that song.

Our Primary Program is next week. Its the culmination of all the work they've done this year learning the gospel and the songs they've learned. Sariah has a little part. Its "Obey your parents." She does a good job saying it. (If she'd only just follow it sometimes!) The senior primary kids wrote their own testimonies to share. It happens near the end followed by one of my favorite songs they learned this year "I Know That My Savior Loves Me." It is like a testimony set to music and I love it. I definitely feel the spirit when these kids share their testimonies. It gave me goose bumps when we practiced today, I know I'm going to cry next week.

A testimony is something so simple that a child can share it. Isn't that amazing? Sometimes I think as adults we'd do well to remember that. It is one of those "share what you know" kind of things. How do we know these thing? By learning the basics, studying the scriptures, letting the spirit influence our lives, prayer.

One of my most treasured testimony memories (in a meeting setting) happened at the very end of my mission. The last night before me and other missionaries were set to go home, President would hold a big meeting where the other missionaries would bring their investigators and the leaving missionaries would bear their testimonies. I don't remember what I said, but I know I was influenced by the Holy Ghost, and I think it probably ended up being a lot like the first discussion. But afterward, one of the investigators I had been working with for a long time came up to me and told me how much my testimony influenced her. It was one of those teach by the spirit, receive by the spirit things. It was simple.

One last thing about testimonies. One of the best ways to share your testimony is just to live it. If you believe the gospel, then you want to follow those teachings of Jesus. People catch onto that. Sometimes I think we're teaching our kids more about the gospel then we think we are because its just natural for us to live this way. We teach them the truths without even realizing it. For instance: Sariah really picked up on modestly. Not because we had a long sit down chat about why its important to be modest in our dress and actions, but because that's how we dress at home. There are standards to the way we choose clothes to wear. Its important to treat our bodies like the sacred gift they are. She gets that because that's the way we live. We've shown her what is important to us.

This blog post went a totally different direction then I meant it to go. I had another topic in mind when I sat down to write this. I guess that'll be for next week. Till then, keep living and sharing your testimonies. I know they strengthen me!