Indianapolis Temple

Indianapolis Temple

Sickness

7/29/2014 08:07:00 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
Lara:  Did you know that when you are about to throw-up your nose gets red, Mommy?

Vivi:  If you are not feeling well, then you should just lie down and go to bed.

Thanks, sweethearts.

Mariella is 3!

6/17/2014 07:05:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »

Don't worry, the fish in this picture was alive and well a few minutes later when we set it free. :)

To celebrate Mariella on her special day, here are a few facts about our red-headed little girl!

1.  She loves to dress-up and dance.  Once she steps into a place where she knows there are dress-up clothes then she is at once stripping down so she can pull on a princess ball gown.
2.  She loves smoothies, even ones with kale or spinach in it!  I have to drink my smoothies fast, otherwise she will steal half of it.
3.  She is my most natural potty-trainer.  Not early or anything like that.  She just didn't need a whole day set aside or anything like that.  That shows how independent she is and how she wants to be just like her sisters.
4.  I will go ahead and brag (because I am allowed to since this is my blog) that Mariella can match pitch and carry a tune like no other 3-year-old I have met.
5.  She has quite the adorable lisp going on right now that I have been assured is perfectly normal.

Happy Birthday, Mariella!  We love you!

Frozen Parents Get a Bad Rap

4/15/2014 07:12:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
There is a viral video going around FB called "How Frozen Should Have Ended".  It pretty much annoyed me more than the actual movie.  I like Frozen, I really do.  I do not, however, love it and choose to sing praises of it.  This viral video struck a chord though and made me thoroughly angry.

Number one-  This just perpetuates the judgmental state that parents have towards other parents.  I have seen the lists, the articles, the opinion pieces, the passive-aggressive FB statuses, etc.  "If you do such and such a thing then you're a bad parent," "You should never do this, that's crazy," "Look at this parent doing something totally stupid," "Dear parent in the supermarket, why did you do such and such a thing?"  Are there bad parents?  Sure.  Like the woman who killed 7 of her babies.  That's horrible.  The rest?  Petty stuff.  Just stop being so judgmental.

Number two- Haven't you ever been faced with a parenting choice and wished there was just a manual that would give you the right answer?  I will insert here that we do have manuals, they are called the scriptures.  However, even within those parameters there is quite a range of parenting styles that could be totally righteous.  The one thing that is consistent is that all of those styles contain love.  Elsa's parents were faced with something that didn't come with a manual.  The troll king only gave little tidbits of information and made things worse!  Which leads me to...

Number three- Has it occurred to anyone else that perhaps Elsa's parents acted out of a genuine love for their daughter's safety?  The troll showed them a picture of people attacking her, for heaven's sake!  If something was shown to me that predicted a danger coming to my children, you bet I would do anything to protect them!  I once was watching Lara play outside as a toddler and I was overcome with the overwhelming urge to scoop her up into my arms, run into the house, and lock the door.  Why?  Because she was such a beautiful toddler (and still is a beautiful girl) that I had an image in my mind of a white van pulling up, somebody grabbing her, and driving off with her.  It was irrational.  Yet those types of incidents happen and if anyone even hinted that it would happen to her, I would keep her inside with me!

Number four-  People accuse Elsa's parents of abuse because they did their best to hide her curse/talent/gift, etc.  Do you know how many special needs parents hate venturing into public places because of the way they are judged?  How they feel that their kid needs to look or act more normal before being successful in public places?  Maybe their kid likes to line things up, maybe they like to touch hair, maybe they like to lick walls, maybe they spin around and flap their hands, maybe they ask really personal questions in very loud voices. All those things may make the children happy and showcase wonderful talents!  How many kids do you know that can spin around so fast, flap their hands, and not lose their balance?  
I find that I even have to remind myself that some things that are viewed as negative in public are actually wonderful gifts.  Take Vivi's exuberance or Lara's introvertedness.  I have stopped apologizing or saying that Lara is shy when she looks at the floor during a greeting from a new person (or even not a new person).  I have stopped telling Vivi that she shouldn't bother strangers with questions about why they are sitting in a wheelchair.  The people are almost never offended and it is her gift to make fast friends.  So, of course Elsa's parents could have learned their mistake in a shorter amount of time then they could have led fuller lives before they died.  Well, that's one thing we can learn from the movie.

Number five- So the answer to Elsa's parents being confused by the troll is to take Elsa away and place her in an institution?  Nuh-uh.  That's just plain stupid and that's all there is to be said about that.

It annoys me that I have spent 20 minutes writing this blog post about a fictional movie.  Bah, another reason that I have a love/hate relationship with Frozen.  Everyone has to write a blog post or opinion piece and the meaning behind Frozen, blah, blah, blah.  Truth is, it's a Disney film.  Good for you if you found bits of truth in it.  Good for you if it showed you a gospel principle.  It is still a Disney film which means it is flawed, big time.  

Moral of the story, take Elder Uchtdorf's advice and just "STOP IT!"     

Olympic Dreams

2/16/2014 07:09:00 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
Last year I wrote this blog post about the Olympics which I remembered about this year.  Time just flies and it surprised me to remember that Lara was only turning 4 during the Vancouver games.  It has been great fun watching all the events with the girls.  We all picked our sport-of-choice today, meaning which one could we see ourselves performing.

Reed:  No surprise here.  Biathlon.

Me:  Skeleton looks AWESOME!

Lara:  Speed skating/Short track.

Vivi:  Skiing. 

Mariella:  Figure skating.  It's the only event she will really sit down and watch with us.

Poems and Pictures

1/24/2014 05:43:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
My talented sister, Jamie, created these for my birthday.  I love looking at them and it's amazing that she captured each of their personalities in the poetry.  It's great to see how my family knows my girls about as well as I do.  I am reminded how I am blessed to live near them.  I never thought that I would stay in Ohio after college.  I had applied to an internship in New York and on the drive there I remember thinking "Whoa, this is a long way from home."  It was a wonderful facility and right up my alley- school setting, a variety of abilities, and the director was awesome.  I got an email from the internship director saying that I was a top 2 candidate and asking if I was still interested.  I wrote back and said that I was impressed with the facility, however I was withdrawing my application.  I have never looked back at that decision and wish I did the opposite.