Jun. 2, 2008
Posted in family life
Finally, an update on the kids. And they have been doing so much lately which needs to be written down before it is forgotten.  Levi, who is 32 months,has recently taken back up wearing underwear and doing very well. He was fully trained in January but with all the moving, regressed and had no interest. Now he is doing well and not only that but has finally learned that toilets are not for playing in. We are all so relieved. I guess finally using it for the correct purpose brought that home for him. He looks down at the water and says very sternly to me "that water is nasty, do not play in it". I nod very solemnly back and agree. While doing the happy dance in my mind. He is at a dead heat with Joshua for being my most conversational child. Every time you or he walks into a room, he asks how you are, and replies pleasantly when you ask the same. He asks how you slept, if you had good dreams, in fact, he spends the day asking questions and truly listening to the answers.   Sarah and Jessica are becoming very best friends. They have always been friends, but now they play together all day long, usually some imaginative game that they create together. They never seem to tire of each other. They compliment each other and look out for each other. I always think this is what sisters are supposed to be like.   Thomas and Joshua have finally caught up on their reading. They are not advanced for their age but they can read scriptures, newspapers, cookbooks easily and smoothly and are reading books for enjoyment now. I did not realize what a burden their being behind was to me personally (I was always thinking about how they needed this skill for life) until it was behind us. They are both so very smart, I really enjoy watching them learn and putting new things in front of them.  I feel hesitant to even talk about Jenny, afraid I will ruin the improvements I have seen in her lately. She is much more friendly in the family (that "eat snails and die' look was pretty standard when this picture was taken).....takes an interest in all of her younger siblings and if she still fights with the older ones, it is never around me. She does not seem to find me nearly as annoying as she used to, though I guess I have my moments. She is going to a church youth retreat this summer and is excited about it. I guess the difference between twelve and nearly fourteen is a big one.........  Logan is doing well. He keeps his own counsel mostly but he is a good young man so I cannot take issue with that too much. He plays the piano beautifully, mostly self taught. There for awhile he was playing from this classical/jazz book, songs like "Maple Leaf Rag" by Choplin, and whoever wrote the Peanuts theme song. He and Ryan have been doing yard work for a couple of families around here and making their own money. I firmly believe the answer to raising teenage boys is keeping them busy with hard physical labor. It is not natural for boys their age to be staying at home with the women and children and I think they feel that deeply. Yet, I am not about to throw about fifteen years of hard work raising a good man by throwing him into public school just so he will have some place to be during the day. He turns sixteen in five months......then he can start working. Luckily, he and Ryan have three different church youth retreats this summer and at least one week long Scout camp. That will help them feel engaged. Not that he is hard to live with, you can just sense the "caged animal" feeling. When he turns sixteen, he can start at the local community college too. There was a funny situation yesterday. I guess funny depends on who you ask. I needed Logan to stay home with the five younger children. I was teaching a class, Samantha was playing the piano in the children's group, Jennifer and Ryan were both receiving callings (being asked to be class presidents....there is a semi-formal ceremony involved). So it had to be Logan. Logan was called to be his class president last week, so he had responsibilites but his were the least pressing of all of us. And Walt was at work. Was Logan ever mad at me. Not yelling, he knows better than that. Just being stubbornly stoic. I laughed to Ryan, Samantha and Jenny on the way to church that all over children were fighting their parents refusing to go to church, but my son was fighting mad because I was making him stay home. He rebels by being more righteous than me. Sometimes I appreciate the irony of that, sometimes it annoys me immensely.........  I already wrote some about Ryan already. He is a good kid. Sometimes a bit smart alecky.....it is rough being smarter than your mom and still having to listen and obey. He is just so darn competent, just like his dad. He turns seventeen in two days. He has recently starting dating and enjoying that. Not any one particular girl, just friends, even double dating sometimes. He is such a geek. I admire his ability to be his own person and swim upstream, but yes, he is a geek. John Denver is his favorite singer, everyone always thinks we are kidding about that. Nope. He rides the unicycle, juggles, makes balloon animals and plays the harmonica. He wanted a sharper phone for his birthday, researched and found a phone he liked. Lots of features, very techno savy. Including being an MP3 player and with FM transmitting capability so you can wirelessly play your songlist on the car radio. What did he load his memory with? John Denver, the Chieftians, and church music. What a wonderfully odd teenager. This is a list of what he carries about in his pockets...... a pen, a harmonica, four bucks of change, phone, comb,marker, pen(one of those old school ones with four colors of ink) , chapstick , a pirates coin and a toothpick holder. In the back pocket, wallet, notebook, calculator. He used to carry a small roll of duct tape but he found that his body heat messed up the adhesiveness. And he lent out his pocket knife and it was not returned. He jingles when he walks but anytime you need something........Ryan has it.  Samantha has so much going on in her life....very good things. She recently came back from a month in England. She is starting college this fall. And in January, she is leaving for Russia to teach English to school children for five months. So many good opportunities/blessings coming her way....... |
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