November Top Ten

10. Abby was having a hard time with the behavior of a friend of hers. We were talking about how being a good friend means loving that friend despite their weakness and setting a good example of how to treat others by communicating with her. Hayden deciding to use his communication skills said, “Yeah, Abby, I still love you even though you sing all the time.”

9. After talking about what age Hayden will be when he becomes a deacon, Abby asked, “Is Hayden going to get the Melchizedek priesthood or the Ironic priesthood?”

8. Hayden rebuking Rob for joking about Grandma LeBaron yelling at him, “Grandma is too sweet to yell. Grandmas don’t yell very much anyway… BUT MOMS DO!” Thank you very much. I refuse to give up hope that I will one day make a very, very wonderful and peaceable Grandma. Until that time, I will CONTINUE to work on my ability to give soft answers.

7. Weston telling me what he wanted to eat, “I want a cheese girled sandwich.” (grilled cheese)

6. On Bastian’s letter homework he practices writing the letter and then draws 5 pictures below that begin with that letter. On this particular week the letter was B. He drew two boys. The boy with hair was labeled Bastian, the bald boy was labeled Ben. He said, “Do you know which kind of Ben? Ben Mullins!”

5. Trying to be somewhere on time, Hayden was coaxing me out of the bathroom saying, “Mom, your hair looks beautiful….now LET’S GO!” Ahhh, a husband in training.

4. I picked what had been a favorite book of Weston’s from the shelf to read to him before bed. It was a Dora the Explorer learn your colors book. Weston looked at the book in my hands and said, “I’m not a baby anymore.” Surprised I said, “We don’t have to read Dora. Go pick out a different book.” He stood at the shelf, pulled out a book saying, “How ‘bout Elmo?”

3. As we were eating eggs, Rob told the kids, “Eggs are protein. They make you strong.” Abby likes red sauce on her eggs. She said, “What does red sauce do?” I said, “It does absolutely nothing for you.” Hayden interjected, “Except entertain your taste buds.”

2. An elementary school in our area has 4-H classes available after school. They include a cooking class that one of her friends that goes to that school attends. We can’t attend the 4-H classes there because our school gets out 30 minutes later than theirs. Abby was distraught and kept asking why our school doesn’t have 4-H. The only answer I could give her was, “I don’t know.” One day Abby came home from school and told me that she asked her teacher if she could go to the bathroom. Instead of going to the bathroom, she went straight to the principal’s office to ask her this important question that was weighing on her 7 year old mind. “I would like to get 4-H at our school. Why does Larson Elementary school have 4-H and ours doesn’t?” The principal explained that the other school had received a grant and said that she had tried to get 4-H at Spanish Oaks Elementary but we don't have the money to do so. Abby was satisfied with that answer and happily went back to class.

1. After recovering from the stomach flu, Bastian said, “When you throw up and you don’t have any food in you, it’s kind of fun.”

Other things worth mentioning:

Nov. 2007 While at Aunt Krista’s house Bastian poured out the last of the cereal in the Malt o Meal bag. It left a heap of crumbs in his bowl. Bastian said, “Hey, Mom, my cereal looks like a sandy beach.”

In 2007 the kids and I went to Arizona (several times, I’m sure) to visit Aunt Shelly. On this particular trip I packed the van the night before (the DVD player was all set up and everything) and woke up before the kids to make the last preparations. I was completely prepared right down to the individual sippy cups WITH ice for each child sitting in the cup holders by their designated seats (boosters, and car seats). About nine and a half hours into the trip Hayden tells me that he is sooooo thirsty. I tell him we’ll have to wait until we get to Shelly’s house for a drink. He complains that he hasn't had anything to drink the entire trip. He hadn't noticed the sippy cup just inches away from his hand. When he took a drink he was disgusted because it didn't have ice. He told me that I had "wasted my time" getting water because I didn't tell him it was there. I was floored! Nine and a half hours in a van with four children and no other adults is enough to send your head spinning in the first place. I let him know that he sounded like he was spoiled! I gave him an ear full of an ungrateful child speech and said that next time I won't get him water at all. He said that next time he would get his water with ice himself. I said seething, "GREAT!" Naively he said, "Mom, will you remind me?"