Hug a Teacher

I was reading a little blurb about the influence teachers can have on their students, and the importance of acknowledging their efforts, so in an effort to follow that advice, I have to say that I couldn't imagine a better teacher than Lou Bean. She introduced me to To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and opened my eyes to creative writing. I will never forget the day that one of her students was sleeping during class. She had been discussing the definition of the word "tangible" and when she asked him what it meant, he obviously couldn't tell her. Rather than getting mad, she picked up a tangerine from her desk, threw it at him, and said, "It's like a tangerine! It means 'touchable.' Get it? 'tangible, tangerine, touchable." She reached out to individual students like no other teacher I have ever known, and I just have to say, "THANK YOU!"

Here is a little blurb from the Deseret News from 2004:

English teacher Mary Louise "Lou" Bean shapes students into readers, writers and creators.
Bean once encouraged a student who loved sketching cars to write Ford Motor Co. about becoming a designer. That student since had his $550,000 concept motorcycle appear in the Nieman-Marcus Christmas book, Viewmont High colleague Debbie Jones wrote in a nomination letter.
Bean, who regularly attends writing workshops, has writing circles in class to help students discover their talents. One student even won a national PTA Reflection contest for her essay about her deceased father.
Bean picks out novels for individual students, hooking struggling readers on books. One now reads 700-page books for pleasure; another went on to become a physician.
"The sparkling enthusiasm of Lou Bean boosted the self-esteem of my children," wrote parent Debra E. Randall. "She let them know she believed in them and that they could succeed."

Snips and Snails and Puppy-Dog Tails

I just emptied Becca's coat pockets and discovered a small cache of treasure. Aside from a used Kleenex (which has already been thrown in the trash) this is the list of items discovered:
-a cherry Jolly Rancher wrapper
-a spider ring
-a top
-a rock
-a penny
-a quarter

I don't think I could have come up with a more classic list of child's prized possessions and thought it was worth noting.
As for today's adventures, my house currently smells like "Tangerine Tickle" since I discovered Ellie and Sarah making a bottle of conditioner "gas" all over Sarah's carpet. So far, however, I think that conditioner is much easier to clean up than shampoo!

Let them Eat Cake

There are several things I get to report on today, so I suppose I should begin chronologically. On Saturday we had a Valentine's party with all of the little cousins on Greg's side of the family. I made individual sized heart-shaped pizzas with a create your own topping bar. We had a few very creative pizzas including one without cheese, one with two layers of sauce, and one shaped like a pizza-face! Then, after lunch, we decorated over 100 sugar cookies. It was really fun to watch the creativity come out full force during the event and most of the mess even stayed in the kitchen!

On Sunday, I decided to focus Singing Time around Valentine's Day. We have been working on some really difficult songs lately, and so I thought the kids deserved a little break. We played name that tune with songs that included the word "love" somewhere in the lyrics. In order to emphasize the point in Junior Primary, I told the kids to raise their hands as soon as they heard the word "Love." About two words into the song, Ellie raised her hand and shouted "I feel the love!" Apparently she enjoyed the response, because within moments she added. "Don't you feel it? Can't you just feel the love?!" The newly called Stake Primary Presidency was there for the first time and I think they got their money's worth this week!

Today, I made dinner for one of the sisters I go Visiting Teaching to, and for dessert, decided to make an ice cream cake. When I was finished, I had an extra layer of chocolate cake, and set it on the counter to eat with our dinner. At about 5:00, the phone rang, and somehow, in the time it took to take the phone call, Ellie and Sarah stole the cake from the counter and dumped about half of it on the stairs and the other half on Ellie's bed. I don't know if they actually ate any of it, judging by the amount of chocolate I had to clean. Sadly, I think it might have been the undoing of our vacuum. I thought that I had picked up enough before vacuuming, but when I was finished, our vacuum was making some pretty sad sounds and it smelled a bit like burnt popcorn.

On a happier note, Ellie wanted to take Valentines to all of her cousins, so I told her she could if she could learn how to write her name. It only took her about two seconds to learn, and she happily signed all 15 Valentines. Way to go Ellie!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Yes, I am still alive, though not necessarily kicking. I have been a little bit overwhelmed lately as Sarah has taken over her sister's role as most mischievous, but I suppose that since she is only a couple weeks away from turning "terrible two" it should be expected. Sarah has moved to a big girl bed in preparation for the little one who is on the way, and has a new favorite game of emptying the dresser and closet of all clothing. I haven't figured out how to prevent it yet, and so I am constantly picking up armfuls of clothes to resort and refold. However, on a more fun note, Ellie has been pretty good overall, and just celebrated her fourth birthday yesterday. Grandpa Welling brought a check and birthday card in the morning, and when we stopped in at Dollar Tree, she went on a mini shopping spree with the money he gave her. She got a "magic" mirror like the one on Beauty and the Beast that shows a picture and makes noise when you press a button, dress up shoes, makeup, and all sorts of goodies. She was in heaven! Ellie's one request for this birthday was to have a "Belle" party, so she got a princess makeover, watched "Beauty and the Beast" and had her grandparents over for Belle cake and ice cream. We had a great day. (She also got to go to McDonalds with all of her cousins which was spontaneous, but So much fun)

Christmas Morning 2006 - Redux

Christmas Morning 2006

Here is our first foray into the exciting world of video blogging! I think the video says it all, so enjoy!

I wonder what she is thinking . . .

Just a quick note and a great picture. Christmas was wonderful and this whole week has been great. Greg has the whole week off from work so we have mostly just relaxed and enjoyed family life. Greg ran over to the neighbor's house last night for a few minutes and Ellie asked "Mom, why are you watching us?" - I think the kids have enjoyed seeing quite a lot of their Dad lately.

Little girls are so cute!

Greg here, filling in for Heather who has her hands plenty full. Today we had an ultrasound and found out two things we already knew: We are roughly 21 weeks along in the pregnancy and we are probably going to have another girl. As much as I may like to have a boy someday, I certainly love the three little princesses I have been blessed with this far, and look forward to one more joining the ranks. Attached is a picture of why I love my little girls, and quite frankly I don't think a little boy could stand a chance of ever being so cute and sweet.

Picture Day

This morning I dressed the girls in their new Christmas outfits with the hope of getting a couple cute pictures taken. Of course, little did I realize that the reason Sarah was so uncooperative was because she was getting sick. We got a couple of pictures taken before we went to church, then I thought we could take a some more when we got home, but Sarah's dress may never be the same--she had a monster case of the runs which "ran" all over my lap during the closing prayer. I quickly ran out of the church and changed her clothes and mine, but it would appear that we will have to wait for another day to try the matching outfits again.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

You may wonder what happened to Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays or Happy New Year, but this spring we will be expanding our home by two feet. It is yet to be determined if those two feet will be boy feet or girl feet, but judging from our past record, I think chances have us at another girl (Due May 5, hence the title of this entry).
As for the last few blog entries, sorry there haven't been any pictures with the fun-filled adventures, the camera was missing, but yesterday Sarah wandered into our room holding it asking me to take her picture, so we are back in business as soon as I have more exciting pictures to take! (My expanding stomach definitely does not count). All else is well (except for Greg who is at present sick in bed) and aside from an oil slick that Ellie caused in the kitchen yesterday we have no turbulence to report.

greased lightning part 2

Ellie has moved on in her hairstyling prowess. Today, rather than putting things in her own hair, she opted to put them in Sarah's. You know, I thought that Vaseline was the worst possible thing that she could put in hair, and for a while I thought that is what was in Sarah's hair, until I discovered her tube of eczema cream. Yeah, it's worse. It's like vaseline mixed with special moisturizers for extra dry skin. Umm, not the easiest thing to get out--on the plus side, though, her pigtails stayed in really well today!

HAIRCUT :)

Today I cut off most of the remains of Ellie's last disastrous haircut. YEAH!! After months of trying to cover up the bald/thin spots, she now has a short, but even haircut--Oh what joy fills my heart! Overall, Ellie's behavior has been improving, but her emotions have been raging out of control. She is so funny. The smallest things can set her off one way or the other. For example, not getting to say the prayer on breakfast, someone opening the garage door before she can push the button, not getting to wear sandals when it has snowed outside, or having to go to bed at a decent hour can send her to tears faster than you can say "cry." On the other hand, finding a penny, getting a piece of candy, going to preschool, or talking to her dad on the phone can keep her in high spirits for hours. I am loving the highs, but am wondering what this emotional rollercoaster is going to be like when she becomes a teenager and has hormones! YIKES!

It's an Ellie Day!

Well, it has been a while since I have had two posts in one day, but today has been an especially busy day for Ellie. Usually, Ellie spends Tuesday mornings at a neighborhood preschool, but it has been postponed because my neighbor's daughter was sick. So instead, Ellie expressed her creative self in other ways. First, when I thought she was eating breakfast, Ellie climbed up into the spice cupboard and emptied a couple bottles--especially potent was the Salad Supreme. Then, when I was on a phone call, she went into the family room, emptied two shelves of our bookcase of their contents and ripped out pages from a couple of books that she apparently found inappropriate to have in our home. This afternoon, we went outside, and she came out without shoes on, so I sent her back in to get some. When she hadn't reappeared after a minute, I went inside to find her making butter sculptures in the kitchen. When I was changing Sarah's diaper, I came downstairs to find the kitchen smelling lemony fresh, and the floor a veritable ice skating rink since Ellie dumped a good portion of my Costco-sized bottle of dish soap on the floor. At least I thought it was just on the floor until I just ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher. Apparently she decided to "help" with the dishes because we had quite the pile of suds built up around the floor when it got going. I think this the first time I have actually seen a dishwasher overflow from using dishsoap. Thank you Ellie for the memorable day.

NOVEMBER?!

I can hardly believe that it is really November--Wow! Becca has finished her first term of school and came out with straight 4s with the exception of a 3 in penmanship, which she inherited from her mother. We also had a great Halloween. The girls dressed up as Cinderella, Belle (Beauty & the Beast) and Sleeping Beauty and enjoyed being princesses for the day. They looked more like eskimoes when they came back from their trick-or-treating, though. It was really cold and they had rather pink noses when they came inside. But, they have thoroughly enjoyed their candy (as has Greg) and the sugar high that comes with it.

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was a great night! The kick-off event was carving our pumpkins and the girls loved cleaning them out - which was a tough decision because they really wanted to both carve and paint them. Well, as push-over-parents we decided it would be OK to carve them first, and then let the pumpkins get covered in paint.


Ellie was quick to decide on a fairy princess. Unfortunately and due to a complete lack of artistic talent her vision became just a fairy wand. She was stilled thrilled and we were somehow able to keep her clean - right up until we were taking pictures when she leaned into the purple paint. Bless her heart!

Becca set off through the cookie cutters and after rummaging through them for a few minutes decided that heart would be great - particularly when covered in red paint. It certainly must have something to do with the red shirt. I had told Becca she could paint her pumpkin as soon as her bed was made, so of course she waited until Greg came home and coerced him into helping.

At Least

Thanks, Michelle for the great idea of the "At Least" game. Here is the list I made after Ellie's little mess yesterday:

At least nobody drank the Windex

At least it didn’t get in Sarah’s eyes

At least we don’t have to go to the emergency room

At least I have already called Poison Control about Window cleaner, so I don’t have to today

At least my kitchen floor is now streak free

At least I have chocolate in my house for moments like this (Thanks Michelle for this reminder)

At least I have a kitchen to clean

At least I have my family

At least Ellie’s love of cleaning products has the potential to turn into a love of cleaning

At least we have the gospel

"something good"

Yesterday morning was the first time in a while that I have been able to see the humor in Ellie's antics. Not that she hasn't been her normal, havoc causing self, I just haven't really been up to putting a humorous spin on it as of late. But yesterday she made me laugh. I was cleaning the upstairs and Sarah was in the playroom, but when I went in to check, Ellie was not with her sister. Here is the conversation that followed:
Me: "Ellie, where are you?"
Ellie: "Downstairs."
Me: "What are you doing?"
Ellie: "Umm . . . something good!"
Me (while walking quickly downstairs): "What good thing are you doing?
Ellie: "I'm, um, getting a drink."
Me: "No you're not, I'm in the kitchen, and you're not here."
Ellie: "Oh....oops."
Me: "What are you really doing?"
Ellie: "Umm...something not very good."
By this time I had found her in the laundry room with a bottle of eyeglass cleaner dumped on the floor. While I was cleaning that up, she climbed up into my cleaning cupboard and sprayed Windex all over the floor in the kitchen. Sadly, Sarah decided to come downstairs just then, and slipped on the wet tile. When I went to clean up that mess, she slipped on the other puddle in the laundry room--not her lucky day.

How now brown cow?

On our way up to Jackson Hole we took several pit-stops to help ensure a more peaceful, pleasant ride. One such stop occured next to a cow pasture. Greg rolled down the window, mooed at the cows and received a whole hearted moo in response. Becca, who sat in the back seat dumbfounded exclaimed, "Daddy, I didn't know you could speak cow!"
The entire trip was wonderful. We had a great time looking at wildlife, hiking, driving through Yellowstone, (although we gave up on Old Faithful just moments too soon), and just relaxing by the fire. All in all it was a great trip.

Two weeks later...

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I posted. With funeral preparations and thank-you notes, General Conference and birthdays, life around here has not been without event, but I haven't been able to put into words the feelings and emotions that have abounded over the last few days.
The girls have been their typical energetic selves, with comments and actions to warrant blogging, but we have been so busy that I'm afraid some of the adventures will be lost forever, but here are a few of my favorite stories that have been missed.

GRANDMA'S FUNERAL
Grandma was certainly loved. Her viewing was supposed to go from 6-8p.m. on Sunday night, but people arrived an hour early, and the line continued until 10:00 making for a nearly five hour viewing. The next morning at the Stake Center, every chair was set up for the funeral, and people were sitting on the stage, standing against the wall, and waiting out in the hall--it was packed. All of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren sang for the funeral, and the day after we sang, I asked Becca what she thought of performing in front of so many people. She told me that there were a lot of people at the funeral, but she was only singing for one--Grandma Welling.

GENERAL CONFERENCE--(or should I say Merry Christmas)
On Conference Sunday, we went to Greg's parent's house. We ate a delicious turkey dinner and sat down to watch the last session of Conference. I suppose the tryptophan in the turkey was a little too effective to keep me alert enough to pay attention to the speakers and to my daughter. While we were happily lounging in front of the television, Ellie, who obviously didn't get enough of the sedative, was busily pulling out all of Lorna's Christmas decorations. She pulled all of the mini-lights out of their strings, dumped a bag of confetti equivalent, pulled all of the keepsake ornaments out of their wrappings, and to add that final touch--as if she hadn't done enough--she found the glass ornaments and smashed them into tiny pieces with her fingers. Somehow she managed to come out of the ordeal without a scrape, which is amazing considering the fact that she was playing in shattered glass, and even more amazing because I didn't inflict any bodily harm to my little stinker :) Somehow, we got it all cleaned up with only a few minor cuts ourselves, and Ellie offered her grandma several heartfelt apologies at my bidding.

OTHER NEWS
Aside from the usual day to day issues, I also turned 30 on Saturday. I think one of my most clever gifts was from the Kearls. I received a giant bowl filled with Halloween treats with a card at the bottom that said: "Now it's time for your Halloween SCARE" and when I opened it up it said, "Happy 30th Birthday"

All in all we are doing pretty well. We are getting ready to leave for Jackson Hole tomorrow morning and we can't wait! I am sorry I didn't have my camera for the Christmas wonderland that Ellie created, but I promise to take pictures while on our trip!

Grandma

My sweet, wonderful grandma died earlier tonight. And what a saint she has been through her entire life. I am so grateful, for her sake, that she is free from her poor, sick body, but I also mourn for those of us she left behind. Life just won't be quite the same without her around. She was truly an angel on earth.
But, amidst my troubled heart, my kids have kept life in perspective. As the end drew near, I forwarned my girls that I would most likely cry more than they were used to when Grandma was gone, but whe I first heard the news, my first reaction, aside from shock--I have been dreading the phone call for so long, it hardly seemed real when I heard--was happiness for Grandma's release. I passed the news on to my girls and Becca immediatly asked, "Mom, why aren't you crying? You said you would cry." I told her that she would certainly have a chance to see the tears, but was definitly amused by her candid response.
The other reality check I had was when we were getting ready for family prayers. Becca was praying, and I told her that instead of praying for Grandma, we should probably pray for Grandpa and the rest of the family, since we are all so sad right now. Becca replied, "Well, I am kind of sad, but it's a good thing Grandpa is still alive. He gives me treats, so I'm still pretty happy.
Watching my girls' simple faith, knowing that we will be together as a family again, and since their concept of time is so poor, it is really more accurate in the eternal sense, that we will be together again soon makes me a little bit stronger at this selfishly-sad time.