Let's Talk Turkey

My sister-in-law sent me an email with ideas to help us have a more "Thankful" Thanksgiving. Each night, we pull a slip from our Let's Talk Turkey jar and come up with a way to express our thanks for the item we pulled out. Some of these have included being grateful for ears, grandparents, books and the like. Well, the kids know that there are two in the jar that are grateful for sisters and grateful for brothers. So Tanner and Tyler have been telling each other what they're going to do when they pull those slips. Tanner's turn was tonight, and he thinks he knows which tightly rolled up slip is grateful for sisters. Well, as he was trying to pick the specific one, I kept shaking the jar so he would just get the one he grabbed. He wasn't too happy with me for doing that, and didn't hold back in letting me know this. I just had to laugh when I opened the rolled scroll and read, "I am Thankful for my Mom!" Now isn't that just poetic justice! I showed it to Tyson before I read it to the kids and his reaction was the same. Laughter!
Well, my dear sweat little Tyler, took this assignment to heart, and quickly took a pencil to her room to write me a note. (The helpful suggestions on the paper read "Do something nice for mom! Write her a note, good chocolate, cook and clean up dinner, do the laundry, clean any room, etc.) A few minute later, she brought me a folded up piece of paper. I opened it and it read:
Mom I Love yo
I no it is hord.
I Love are famlee.
frum tyler lybbert.
I have to say, it brought tears to my eyes. Being a mom is hard sometimes...a lot of times, but these small little rewards for a hard job, make it just that much more worth it!

Wiggly wobbly woo!!

Jefferson is providing a new world of boy. Each of our boys have had different, very different personalities. Nothing bad, just different from the other. And with each boy, we've gradually been introduced to the boyness of life. Tanner was very calm and could be content just sitting and reading books all day. Climbing was not something he even tried. With Jake, he loved to scare and get people and while climbing was something he knew about, it wasn't something he preferred. Jefferson has opened new doors. The other day, he figured out that if he pulled the stove drawer out, he could hold on to the stove handle and stand on the drawer to get a better view. He loves to climb onto the table and do a victory dance showing pure delight in his accomplishment of making it to the top of the table before mom figured out he was up there. He LOVES balls. If we even mention the word he starts looking for the basketball or bouncy ball to bounce throughout the kitchen. He's also been our wiggliest. Church is more like a wrestling match and cuddle time, while it does happen, is short and sweet. Well, tonight, Tyson was trying to get Jefferson's jammies on and the two were working up quite the sweat to get him dressed. Finally, he finished and Jefferson was off to his next destruction project. When shortly after he was dressed, he started making grunting/screaming sounds. He was able to walk over to us in the kitchen, to which we realized his one piece pajamas were on correctly on the top half of his body, but somehow, in his wiggles, they were twisted in the middle and turned so him right leg was in his left legs spot and left leg was in right legs spot. It was actually really funny, but you know the thought going through both Tyson and my heads was the same...he is SO wiggly!!! The three pictures were the best I could get. He was busy trying to get to a bubble sheet to walk all over and pop with the older kids!

First Haircut

Yes, it is that time that comes in every child's life when his hair just isn't baby cute anymore. Jefferson reached that point a while ago, but time is just not something we have around here very often. So tonight for Family Home Evening he got a haircut. I have to say, all four of my kids have handled their haircuts really well. No one has been freaked out by this buzzing thing that keeps coming at their head...it could be the sucker that has them preoccupied, but we didn't even pull the sucker out with Jefferson until after the big buzzing thing was turned off. I would say he did really well. He didn't hold still so well, but come one, what do you expect from a one-year old?