THE BEST SUNDAY....

is Primary Program Sunday. My Favorite Sunday of the year! So, this past Sunday we got to go to TWO Primary Programs - Bubby's, and my 4 year old nephew. Here are the highlights from each:

Bubby's Program:
* Bubby knew the words to at least half the songs this year (this is an improvement from past years, when he knew maybe one or two), and he sang them!
* Bubby spoke his part VERY CLEARLY. I understood every word he said! Awesome.
* Bubby got chastised by his teacher for something, and he was not very happy with her (as evidenced by the scowl on his face). BUT, when it came time to sing the next song (which he knew very well), he tried SO HARD to keep frowning while also singing the song. It was really funny, because it's pretty hard to frown when you are singing a church song that you sing a lot when you are HAPPY. Maybe I'm a mean mom, but it was funny to watch!

Now, from the Sunbeams:
"Jesus taught us some TINGS we can do to be like Him. HEWE AW some TINGS he taught us to do:"
- Be Wevewent
- Be a good Fwend
- (whispered): be baptised (Loudly): LIKE HE WAS!!!

My favorite part:
Little boy (about 7 years old), who sang with CONVICTION and VIBRATO, and could be heard singing over the rest of the primary. The best part - he sang ON KEY, and would hold out some of the notes USING HIS VIBRATO. I was loving it! I mentioned to my mom that he HAD to belong to a family of singers and/or performers (I know there are some of those in our ward). So, I watched who he went to after the meeting was over....sure enough, he belongs to a gal whose family of 10 sibling are ALL talented singers. I grew up with them. This little boy's grandmother was the vocalist for Mary's Lullaby for the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. NO BIG SURPRISE HE CAME FROM ROBERTS STOCK! It was GREAT!

My Nephew's ward:

Question: Our body is a temple. How can we take care of our temples?
Answers:
* Wash my hair
* Brush my teeth
* (My nephew's answer, as he passes by the microphone without stopping): Help my family (like a drive by answer!)
* haha - "Obey My parents" (the child who said this really was laughing as he said it, as if to say, "yea, right!" It was hilarious!)

I Love to See the Temple:
If you recall from an earlier post, Bubby and I had a very sacred experience with this song when it was sang at my sister's ward's Primary Program. Well, this one is just as sweet:
During the first verse of the song, Bubby whispered the ENTIRE FIRST VERSE of lyrics into my ear (like he was telling me a secret). My heart melted that he liked this song so much that he wanted to whisper it to me while still listening to the primary sing it. For the second verse, two of the boys in Primary (I'm guessing they were 10 or 11 years old) played a guitar duet - instrumental only. I had chills.
The chills continued when a few songs later, a choir of boys only(again, aged 10 or 11) sang "We Thank thee O God for a Prophet". And with such conviction. I tell you what, the spirit was amazing. Children plus music about family and the savior and the gospel equals THE BEST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR!

ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'!!

The Little Man has figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy. It started late yesterday afternoon while he was "crying it out" in his crib. (Don't worry - it's not like it was an epic, hours long situation. The crying only lasted about 10 minutes). I went in to check on him when he got quiet, and found him fast asleep on his tummy. I rolled him onto his side, since his face was FACE DOWN (not turned to the side). He has since rolled from tummy to back 5-6 times today. The only problem is - HE DOESN"T REALLY LIKE BEING ON HIS TUMMY! Funny boy! So, now he's just got to figure out how to get himself back onto his back. I'll let ya know when that happens!

Bye, Bye, Baby

Last Wednesday night, October 21, my husband and father noticed the family dog, Baby (a black, mostly pomeranian), hobbling and looking very frail. She could hardly walk. My dad noticed she had hardly eaten or drank any water for a few days. she looked depressed. It was very disconcerting.
Thursday morning, after I returned home from taking Bubby to school, I found my dad cleaning up a little pile of bile vomit Baby had left on the floor just outside our bathroom. He said he was up most of the night with her vomiting. And this was about the 4th pile in a half hour. While he was cleaning, Baby went into Bubby's room to hide between his dresser and nightstand (in a corner, as if she were putting herself in time out for leaving a "mess" on the floor). It was disheartening. She is an old pup - 14 years and 7 months. She started this life in ill health, as a puppy unable to eat or drink much and dying from starvation and dehydration. In those days, I kept her alive by taking her to the vet every other day for a week for hydration IV fluids, and giving her a pill (she had Parvo). She was depressed then. And on Thursday, when my mom picked her up from her hiding spot in Bubby's room, she looked depressed. Her face looked sad. She was a very sick puppy.
Dad took her to the vet. After being convinced, my mom went with him. There was a very real possiblity that old age had taken it's toll, and the humane thing to do would be to put her down, gently, with what remained of of her dignity. I asked them to call if they decided to put Baby out of her misery.
I got that call within a half hour. She was old. The vet said from the odor from her breath, her kidneys were shutting down. Hundreds of dollars could be spent doing multiple tests in order to find out if her condition was "treatable", which treatments may extend her life anywhere from one week to a few months. My parents decided the kind thing to do for their beloved canine companion would be to put her to sleep. They called to let me know this was their decision.
My mom said it was very gentle and humane. The vet put a catheter/IV in Baby's leg. She first gave her a "drowsy maker". She lay on her little bed my parents had taken with them, between my parents. They pet her and she was very calm. Then, the vet put the heartstopper drug into the IV, said, "Let me just help her to close her eyes" as she put her hand over Baby's little face and closed her eyes, and then put her stethoscope on Baby's chest and said,"She's gone". My mom said it was very peaceful, and the vet was very kind and gentle. And it was very quick - maybe 10 seconds after the drug was administered. Such a humane way to end misery.
So, I bid you farewell, Baby. You were a good dog. You were a sweet, gentle pet. We all loved you. Have fun in dog heaven, where you can run around without pain and be with your brothers and sisters who went there before you.

Little Show-Off

Yesterday, I took the Little Man in for his 4 month well-baby visit (although, he will ACTUALLY be 5 months this Saturday). He weighs 16 pounds. He is 27 1/4" tall. This puts him in the 60th percentile for weight, and 90-95% for height. Yes, one day I will be looking UP to my boys!

When the doctor put her fingers into his little hands to test his ability to pull himself up to sitting (with her help), he pulled himself up to STANDING. She commented, "Little show-off!". This, I was informed, is a bit ahead of the curve for his age. SMARTY PANTS! He smiled for the doctor (the whole visit) and also showed off his LOUD voice ("talking"). When placed on his tummy, he showed off how strong his neck is. When placed back on his back, he showed off how he is THIS close to rolling onto his tummy from his back.

Overall, we still have a healthy baby boy!

Now, if we could just get him to sleep through the night and take some REAL naps......(working on that, by the way! We'll let you know when we have success!)

MISSING....

I AM MISSING Autumn in Utah. The close proximity to a canyon full of reds and yellows and oranges and pinks, through which I could drive on any given day and admire the Lord's handiwork and perhaps capture some of those lovely fall colors on my digital camera.

I AM MISSING pulling out the sweaters and jackets and having a reason to change my wardrobe. Strange...I always thought of myself as an "Arizona girl", hating the cold, the snow, thinking that winter was arriving TOO SOON there in Utah, wishing I were in Arizona this time of year when the cool, sometimes cold, crisp weather arrives in Utah. And now, how I miss that cool, crisp weather and the reason for which I I have HALF of my wardrobe in long sleeve shirts and cute jackets and coats.

I AM MISSING hot chocolate, hot apple cider, feeling chili enough to want...well, chili!

I AM MISSING my Halloween decorations. Bubby keeps asking if we are going to decorate for Halloween. I keep telling him our Halloween Decorations are in storage, and maybe, just maybe, we'll be in our OWN house in time to decorate for Christmas.

I AM MISSING my homegrown pumpkins to carve. We had homegrown pumpkins for past few years , which we picked from our own amazing garden that we kept there at our home in Utah. I'm even missing seeing Janie and Matt's pumpkins growing across the street, and Mistie and Chad's pumpkins that grew in their FRONT yard garden.

I AM MISSING my Harvest Hills friends and neighbors. Having moved back to AZ, and living in a home where we know exactly 4 of our neighbors, I have come to realize that I don't know WHERE I can take Bubby trick-or-treating! It was so lovely last year when we went trick-or-treating with friends for almost 2 hours, and we knew the people at EVERY house we visited. I KNEW the candy was safe, and the people were happy to see MY Bubby. Still haven't decided how to solve this dilemma!

I AM MISSING a piece of my heart. I think I left it in Harvest Hills. If one of you 4 people who read my blog find it, please e-mail me and let me know. Maybe D and I will find some $ to come for a visit, and I can pick up the pieces of my heart that are still residing there.

I AM SORRY to those 4 of you who read this that this post has been, well, morose, at best. Thank you for taking a minute to indulge my "pity party". My life actually IS blessed. I have the cutest baby boy in the UNIVERSE, my tender-hearted 6 year old boy gives me more hugs and kisses than any other boy on the planet has ever bestowed upon his mother, and my husband ADORES me (and I ADORE him, for the record!). I have dear friends near and far who are kind, and loving, and allow me to be me. I have both of my parents and both of my husband's parents still living on this earth, and loving my little family.

And I have the gospel. It is true no matter where I live (though hearing the messages of the gospel in a ward that is ZION is a bit sweeter to the soul - my soul is missing that sweetness). God lives. He loves me. He is aware of me. And He forgives me many times each day for the dumb offenses I commit. I am thankful for that!

And now, I will sign off from this post, and post the updates on the Little Man!

Britain SUCKS!

So D and I got to go on a date Saturday night (thanks to my mom and dad for babysitting). We went to Joe's Real BBQ in Old Town Gilbert (DELISH! and fun. D LOVES that they have a full sized tractor inside the restaurant). Then we went across the street to Oreganos for a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pizza Cookie for dessert. Also DELISH! When we were walking through the parking lot back to the truck, I saw a car with this license plate:
HOGWRTS
I commented how I thought it was pathetic that someone actually had that as a license plate. I mean, I like the books and all, but I wouldn't label my CAR as such! Anyway, D replies that if he were an actor in the movies, HE would put that on his license plate. So the conversation continued like this:
Me: Well, as we are in AZ, and all the actors are Brits, and none of them have probably moved to AZ and bought a cheap car to label with a Hogwarts license plate, that car probably doesn't belong to one of the actors.
D: Maybe one of the actors DID move to Arizona. I wouldn't blame them. Britain sucks!
Me: What?!!?
D: Britain sucks. It's cold, and gloomy, and dirty.
Me: How do you know that? Have you BEEN to Britain?
D: No, but I WATCHED MARY POPPINS!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - I seriously laughed for 5 minutes straight. Tears streaming down my face, VERY full tummy hurting from laughing so hard. It was a really fun date!

Bon Jovi by Bubby

"You Give Love a Bad Name" comes on the radio as we arrive at our destination last night. My 6 year old, who is well versed in MANY radio songs, and says "This is the song in Dad's truck" EVERY time he hears a familiar song, begins to sing along. Here's what we hear:
Bubby: "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame, darling you give looove, a BANDAID."

Yep, we like that version better, too! :)

Hola! Sloss!

What?!?? That's right, we speak espan-bubby round these parts! So, here's the story:

Friday night, we load up the boys (plus my nephew B.) and head to a high school football game to watch my darling niece cheer. When we arrive, we have to park a mile away (SMALL exageration), and during the walk around the school to get to the football field, we pass a couple girls who are just sittin' on the grass hangin' out. These are caucasian American girls (NORTH American girls, not Latin American girls, mind you). One of the girls says as we walk past, "Hola!". Bubby then says, "Hola! Sloss!" The girl giggles and looks confused, I'm sure thinking "What the heck does Sloss mean?"
I say to Bubby "What is Sloss?".
Bubby says "You know, Hola. Sloss. Wait, not sloss. What is it?"
(Have you figured it out yet?)
I then have a light bulb moment and say, "Do you mean 'Hola, como estas'?" (not sure if I spelled that correctly. Give me a break! I majored in French!)
Bubby says, "YES! Hola, como esLOSS" Wait, I said it wrong again. Hola, como esTAS. That's right. Whew!".
D and I have a good laugh. ANd somewhere, the poor girl that started it all is still trying to figure out what the Spanish word SLOSS means!

***By the By, our actual GAME experience did not last long. You see, it was the Homecoming game, and was CROWDED! Narry a place in the stands to sit, and we WERE there to watch the cheerleader, NOT the game. And standing at the fence down at either end zone does not make for a good spot to see my niece cheer on the 40. Plus, the first 5 minutes there, OUR team scored a touchdown, the crowd got loud, and the little man got SCARED. It was pretty sad! So, we left Bubby with my parents and his cousin, and we took the little man home. We may try again next Friday, but we'll leave the little man home with Haba!