My Alliance and Sweetheart

Olivia talk this week:

1.

"But dad I would certainly like to go outside". -Liv
"Oh you would certainly like to go outside would you"?- Dad
"Yes, I certainly want to go outside". -Liv


2.

The other day Jaron and I were having a bit of an indoor pine cone war. Which consisted of me catching him on his blind side and nailing him in the leg with a pine cone. Then when he was ready to get me back I hid in the bathroom and whined until he left me alone. This is how our fighting usually goes. Anyway- somewhere in between me being brave enough to exit the bathroom and whining that Jaron wouldn't waste me with the pine cone he had raised in the air above me, Olivia boldly stepped in between us and said "Dad you can't hurt mom"!

We both looked down at her standing up as straight and tall as she could in between me and the villain. Then she said:

"But, you can hurt me".

As she stood there so bravely guarding me my heart filled with pride for my courageous little girl.

Needless to say, her brave efforts were not in vain. Jaron dropped the pine cone. Victory. High five little one.

3.

This morning Olivia was playing, tutu on, and wand in hand, and I said "Olivia I'm going to go upstairs and jump in the shower". I had Warner in my arms. Then she said
"You can leave Warner down here cause I'm going to spell him into a frog prince with my magic wand".

When I got out of the shower I couldn't find Warner anywhere, but Olivia was holding a little itty bitty toad in her hand that was making little tiny noises every now and then as she petted him. I didn't believe her magic wand had such powers, but I tell you what Warner was indeed gone and Olivia had a toad in her hand. I asked her to change him back so that I could give him a bath, so she decided to obey.

He turned back into himself and then immediately back into a frog the second he hit the water. I told Olivia something didn't work in her spell. She fixed it though, because Warner is Warner again, minus the slimy green, although his little legs and round belly still somewhat resemble a toad.

Ok, so I'm pulling your leg. "You can leave Warner down here cause I'm going to spell him into a frog prince with my magic wand", plus Warner kind of resembling a toad is the only true part of the story. I had you for a minute though didn't I?

4.

Today on our run, I heard Olivia's little voice from the running stroller say "Mom, I want to tell you something" (she says this phrase a lot), "When you grow up you can have my kitchen cookies" (i.e. the wooden play cookies that she was so gingerly playing with in her hand).

I was so touched. I often wonder to myself when I will be considered grown up, and I was so ecstatic to think my daughter didn't think I had reached that point yet. :)

Happy Tuesday. It is another beautiful day.

Violins are neat, knowing how to play them is neater

As the man of the house, I seldomly take the time to post something, since Jess usually does such a good job documenting the goings-on at our house. In fact, this, I believe is my third post. The first one being when I played basketball with the boys from the Arcade Fire and the second being a picture I took of the moon one night. The following, however, makes a man more happy than any number of basketball games with semi-famous people and more proud than capturing the moon and its craters: Jess and Liv performed in a violin recital this evening and both did splendidly. See for yourself:

Olivia and Jessica's Recital April 2010 from Jessica Brown on Vimeo.

A sweet ending to "One of those days"

Today was one of those days where I suffered the consequences of my own bad choices.

I made two really big mistakes.

Mistake number 1:

I packed way to much into one day.

first yoga
then violin practice
then visiting teaching interview
then errands (target, mclendon's, and fred myer)
then home for naps and dinner
dinner
violin recital (not Liv's but her other fellow studio-mates)
9:00pm home
9:00- Jaron leaves for basketball

Yea I know what your thinking. Psycho right? First of all I usually try to plan nothing else on the day I go grocery shopping (which was the Fred Meyer stop) because shopping for a week worth of food with two kids is a lot for anyone in a day, but add all the other things. Like I said psycho. This is not normal life. What was I thinking?

I wasn't thinking. And what undoubtedly happens when I make mistake number one, you make ask? Mistake number two inevitably follows

Mistake number 2: Biggest mistake of all.

I yell at Liv, not once, or twice, but many times.

I don't like yelling. In fact I detest it. I've always been one that is very sensitive about people's tone of voice when they talk to me. I don't take being yelled at well. Therefore, I make a special effort never to yell at my kids or anyone for that matter. Unfortunately, I am a weakling. And never turns into sometimes. Not often, but sometimes.

Here is what happens. I start the day out patient. I cram too much into one day. I'm rushing. The kids are feeling rushed. The kids feel stressed. And then they snap. I snap. We all snap. All because of me and the choice I made to fit it all in to one precious day.

Well, I'm not just writing this so that you all are convinced of what a cruddy mother I am. I'm writing this, becuase of what happened at the end of this day.

In the car on the way to the violin recital. We had a half hour to ourselves. Just me and Liv.

For the first 10 minutes Liv talked and chatted about things she was seeing outside her window. It was nice to be just me and her. Then, with a somber tone, and truley a broken heart I said "Liv, I'm really sorry I yelled at you today".

Matching my tone perfectly, and with what also sounded like as great of an example of a broken heart as I've ever heard, Liv said "Mom, I'm just so sorry I yelled at you too, cause I just love you, and I'm really sorry".

Welcome to the world's sweetest apology.

Then she said,

"Oh Mom, lets say a prayer".

I told her she could say one if she wanted.

Let this go down as one of the sweetest prayers in history, this is what she said:

"Dear Heavenly Father, I'm so sorry I yelled at my mom. I don't like to. And she yelled at me, but she loves me, and I love her, and my brother, and dad. Now we get to go to a recital, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen".

I know that Olivia is sassy, and sometimes she can be a handful, but you know she really is a little angel at heart. And she is so good, and sincere, and smart. I'm grateful for her example. And I'm grateful for repentance. Tomorrow is a new day. Jaron is taking the car and I will be at home all day with the kids. It will be nice, and I will be better.

My handsome little fellow and my white angel.

Gluttony

Warner- looking for his basket and looking a bit discouraged.

Definition of Gluttony- derived from the latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food.

Lets think, or should I not? Ok I will. I am and I'm confessing it, or shall I just let my figure confess it?

Mini Cadbury eggs

Sugar cookies with Anise flavored frosting (I'de post a picture of them, as I usually do, but they are all gone eh hem)

Thumb print cookies with Anise flavored frosting (don't knock it til you've tried it)

Fried turkey

Mashed potatoes with one whole stick of butter plus heavy whipping cream mixed in

Lemon Curd trifle with heavy whipping cream on top.

Um,

Lets just say


its a darn good thing my PiYo class starts tomorrow.

My Feelings of Easter

I know there are many people who read this blog that are not of the same faith as me, but I know we all share similar truths about Jesus Christ, and who he was. One truth that I believe in as a member of The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that Christ lives, that he is an actual being, and that he was resurrected. It is so perfect that the holiday we celebrate as Easter happens in the spring when everything outside comes back to life in beautiful color.

This week as I have been pondering on the events that took place leading up to the death and atonement of Christ I have felt very humbled. How did he do it? How did he have that much love to go through all the pain and agony for each one of us? It is hard for me to wrap my mind around one being, who was the only perfect being to live on the earth, and who had so much love for man kind and for God that he would atone for the sins of the world. Yet in the end we know and believe that after three days of darkness he arose and was alive (Mathew 28:6-9).

Today I was talking to Olivia about Jesus. We have had several lessons at FHE about Jesus. Be it his birth, stories of his life, the atonement, his death on the cross, and the ressurection. For some reason the part that always really stands out to her, or at least the part she seems to talk about on an almost daily basis is the fact that he died on a cross.

The term resurrection is hard for anyone to understand, let alone a three year old, but today as I was reading the book, "Easter Walk" to her something clicked. As usual as we went through the humbling and sobering section of the book that shows pictures of Gethsemane and Golgotha, Olivia was very quiet and serious. And as usual, she looked very sad, when we talked about the way Jesus was treated before he died (Mark 15:17). "Mom, was Jesus sad?" "Why did he bleed?" "Were those guys not very nice to him?" "Why were they mean to him?".

Finally when we got to the bright page with the picture of an empty tomb with the stone rolled away from it, Olivia's eyes lit up. She stopped sucking on her blanket in the somber matter which she had been doing and she leaned forward towards the book.

"After three days of darkness the sun came out again, and so did Jesus and he was alive", said I.

Olivia smiled.

"How do you feel Liv?" I asked.

With a sweet expression on her face which I wish I could have captured she said

"I feel good mom".

Hopefully her impression today will last and that Christ's death will not be the only thing she thinks about when she thinks about her Savior. It is the knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that I like to think about most. That he lives and loves us, and that he is leading His church on the earth today.

May your thoughts be turned to Him on this Easter Sunday.