At The Dinner Table

Jolie: Life is full of surprises.

Me: What do you mean?

Jolie: I just found another tomato under my lettuce.

I Love Them

These are my boys. They are total STUDS. They might as well be my little brothers, we are that tight. Actually they are my cousins, on my mom's side. And they are all amazing, kind, strong, righteous young men. The best kind of men made for serving the Lord. It just so happens that they all just recently turned 19 so you know what that means!

Ryan is the boy in the middle. He is the love of Lucy's life. I don't know why but she has been obsessed with him since she was tiny. He was the first boy to leave. He is in the MTC getting ready to go to Houston, Texas Spanish speaking mission. We miss him like crazy already.

On the right is Michael. I just attended his farewell on Sunday where he gave a VERY touching talk on his upcoming mission to Tokyo, Japan. He clearly has a very strong testimony and I am so proud of him.

Perhaps my favorite (by just a tiny bit) is my boy Robb on the left. I would wager that his testimony and desire to serve the Lord is the strongest of the three. Despite his sarcastic nature he has one of the most tender hearts I know. Due to somewhat severe health issues he doesn't get to go on a mission like his buddies. I know this is totally killing the boy and it is painful to imagine how his future might be affected by this. But I am so proud of him! He has conquered so much in his life and I am just feeling quite (selfishly) glad that I won't have to do without him for 2 years. I know his future is bright no matter what! How could it not be? He is too great of a guy for that not to happen.

I am just feeling a little sentimental and wanted to write down my love for these boys. They are so amazing and I know that our Grandpa would be so over-the-moon proud of them for their desire and willingness to serve the Lord.

Don't you just love missionaries?

Bigger IS Better

I am pretty much incapable of playing make believe with my children. I feel really bad about this considering Lucy lives most of her life as some pretend person or animal. She is always scripting for me and telling me, "mom you say (x)." or "Pretend you said (y)." I try my hardest to get into the game, but I am just no longer able to do that! The make believe world is lost to me now. I know, how very sad.

One of the things my girls and I love to do together is watch and dance to musicals. We love Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Newsies, Bye Bye Birdie. We recently borrowed Hairspray from my sister Camille. I had never seen it before and of course we loved it. We sang we danced we LOVED the music. Fun times that I hope my kids remember when they grow up, that their mom played with them.

Later I heard the girls playing Hairspray together. They were fighting over who got to be Tracy and who got to be in love with Link. Jolie said, "I am going to be Tracy, she is the most beautiful!" I was kind of surprised by this remark. It never occurred to me that my girls would see Tracy as the most beautiful. And I am pretty sure it isn't because she gets Link in the end. I really think it's because they have no preconceived notions about what is considered beautiful. It hasn't come to their attention yet that most people think that thin women are the pretty ones. As far as they are concerned, their dad is the most handsome man in the world and if he is married to me I must be the most beautiful. And lets face it, I am not a lean girl. Also I think in their world, the kind, sweet person is also the most physically attractive. The heroine is the one that everyone wants to be, and looks aren't even considered. Wouldn't that be great if all the guys wanted the nice girls? Things would be really different that is for sure.

I plan to draw this out for as long as possible. My children will not learn from me that generally the pretty, skinny girl wins the man. I hope they hold on to what they believe for as long as they can.

And I hope they think Landon and I are the bees knees forever.

28 Days

Until we get to visit Nana and Pops! And Chase and Max and Roy and Dillon and Angella and Miles and Carter and Grandpa Beach and Grandma Lois and Grandma Donna and GG and Grandpa Pendleton and all the rest...





We are counting down.

Don't Stop!

Did you watch it?




Love love loved it!

Favorite Toy(s)

The weirdest part is this is how Reese nurses these days. Stradling me sitting up. He is going to love this knowledge someday.

Everything Reese

I know you are dying to know what silly things Reese is up to these days. Here are some updates.

-He just might be the laziest baby I know. He HATES being on his stomach so at 8 months old he still refuses to even scoot, let alone crawl. He makes me hold him as he dives or moves toward things he wants. LAZY.

-Along with that the boy refuses to eat anything he has to chew. If it is not mush and he can't swallow it whole, he doesn't want it. Will he ever graduate from baby food? Am I going to be spoon feeding this boy when he is in 9th grade?

-He has some amazing blue eyes.

-He is super smart and already uses "mamamama" when he is with me and "dadadada" when with Landon.

-He is happier when we run around town all day, and hates spending too much time at home.

-He pretty much only likes members on his immediate family. And only likes to be held by me or Landon.

-He loves his bath, or I should say splashing in the bath.

-He loves loud toys that he can slam and make big noises.

-He has a very low voice for such a little guy.

-He makes the funniest faces all of the time, see above.

-When a stranger talks to him he bows his head and peaks up until finally they leave.

-He gets bored when his sisters aren't around to entertain him.

He is such a little love. I just adore that boy. I don't want him to get any bigger, I am loving him and his silly baby ways.

Blankie

Have you ever seen Lucy's Blankie? It was first made by my Grandma Inkley and was given to Jolie when she was born to wrap her during her blessing. After that it wasn't used for her because she picked a different blanket for her blankie.

When Lucy was born it was all over. No other children would be blessed snuggled up in it for Lucy claimed it as her own.


It is now lovingly referred to as her "ball of yarn" as it has been loved and loved and loved by that dear child.


She sometimes uses it as a cape in her many games of princess. (Reese is usually the prince in such games.)


She even uses it as a very fashionable scarf on those very chilly nights here in Redondo Beach.


We love her blankie. She has even given it a name: Sara. (Which also happens to be the name of her favorite stuffed puppy and her favorite doll.)


I just adore a baby and his or her blankie.

All of my kids have one.

Story Time

Once upon a time there were 2 wonderful, beautiful, rose zebra wearing princesses. They were no ordinary princesses. These princesses loved to help their nanny/maid/cook/driver/butler/laundress wash the royal coach.


Then they would splash in the puddles,


and get soaking wet,


and get filthy stinkin dirty.


There was also a handsome hooded prince who was not invited to play. The nanny/maid/driver/butler/laundress would not allow it.


And they were happy.


The End.

Please No

We have been working on discipline this week in the Cowan home. It has been a hard week full of whining, crying and fit throwing. My patience has been at an all-time low, I have raised my voice more times than I wish to remember and I felt pretty awful after each time.

Jolie is a very good girl, as long as she is being constantly entertained. Busy days are the best days as far as she is concerned. It is those days when instead of long trips to the park or the beach we have to work on homework, do laundry or other chores that are totally not fun, that she is difficult. As a result we have come to realize that to discipline her we have to take away those things she finds so fun. Right now she is in love with the show Zaboomafoo. So her punishment for bad behavior is strike one, no Zaboomafoo and strike two, no TV at all. One threat of a strike and she will do pretty much anything I say.

Lucy is a totally different creature. There is nothing you could take away from her that would prevent a tantrum. If I tell her she can't watch her favorite show or eat her favorite snack, she would just say "fine!" Unfortunately, she is the one more often in tears or on the ground screaming. Time outs seem to be her cup of tea. Putting her in a spot all by herself where no one can hear her yells to awknowledge her anger seems to work most of the time. This obviously doesn't help in public places because it has to be immediate consequences with her or it won't work. I am still trying to figure out what to do with that.

It has been really a hard week. I have been closing my eyes and counting to 10 or even leaving the room when it gets really bad. I so want to be a patient mother. I don't want my children to remember me yelling when they grow up. Prayer has also been a great aid in my quest to find peaceful means of disciplining my children. I want to teach them how to control their tempers and how can I do that when I can't control mine? I need to learn to reprimand them and show them I love them at the same time. It is so hard! One of the hardest things I have done as a mother thus far. Am I up for the challenge? I hope so.

What do you do to discipline your kids? Do you ever lose it too?