not hard at all.

Recently while singing to James at bedtime, I got thinking about all the wonderful Primary songs I sing to him, and that he now knows by heart. What a wonderful way to teach our children about the Savior and the gospel - the simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ are stated so simply and beautifully in these songs for even the smallest of children to learn.


A few weeks ago I started singing to him the song "To Think About Jesus." I have always loved this song, and I have a very distinct memory of singing this song in Primary as a very little girl. I remember sitting in the Primary room on a hot Sunday afternoon, with the bright sun shining through the white curtains, and singing this song and thinking about Jesus and how He died for me. I think this may have been one of the first times I had really thought about and received a testimony of the Atonement.

How sweet it is now to sing this song to James, and have him sing right along with me (because he knows every word!). I hope that he will always remember this song and remember that Jesus Christ loves him and died for him.

It shouldn't be hard to sit very still,
And think about Jesus, His cross on the hill,
And all that He suffered and did for me.
It shouldn't be hard to sit quietly.
It shouldn't be hard, even though I am small,
To think about Jesus.
Not hard at all.

I love and am grateful for good music, and really believe it is a powerful tool for teaching our children. It really is "not hard at all" to instill in our children a love for the Savior and a great foundation for their own testimony.

Happy Sunday!

I'd love to know what songs you sing to your kids!

"i happy."

...those are the sweetest little words that come out of our little buddy's mouth almost every single day. James - I happy, too! How could I not be happy with such wonderful, happy guys in my life?

should be sleeping...

...but instead James is up in his bed happily yelling words that he knows. Kind of cute, really.

LELLO!!
GREEN!!
DOOR!!
BANKEEK!!
YEAH!!
CARS!!
HOUSES!!
BOOK!!
MAMA!!
DOGGIE!!
BOOK!!
BANKEEK!!
BED!!
FOOT!!
MINE FOOT!!
ouchies!
mmmmmmmmmMUAH! (apparently he kissed his foot)
TRAIN!!
BALL!!
BOOKS!!
TRAIN!!
TRAIN TRACKS!!
BED!!
RED CAR!
RED BOOK!
BROWN!!
WHITE!!
BED! BED!
BOOK!
DOGGIE! MINE DOGGIE!!

a lazy day

I woke up this morning not feeling well at all (sore throat, headache). Any mommy knows how hard it is to be a mommy when you are sick! Luckily my little buddy is the best son ever -

I asked him if he wanted to lay on the couch with me and watch a movie - he said yeah! So I got out some choices, and here was our conversation:

me: "Do you want to watch Pongo?" (who else loves 101 Dalmatians?? great movie...)

James: "No."

me: "Do you want to watch Cars?"

James: "No."

me: "Do you want to watch Gilmore Girls?"

James: "Yeah!!"

:) What a little champ, eh?

We had a lazy, comfy day and stayed in our pj's until the afternoon - I think everyone needs a day like that every once in awhile!

the things we mommies do....

I just kissed my son's toy car goodnight.

stick it on the fridge

Is it weird that I just can't bring myself to throw away any of James' little pictures he colors in nursery every Sunday?

We've got 'em on the fridge and in his closet and they just keep on popping up in various places throughout the house. Why is it that I just can't get rid of a picture of a little boy (with yarn attached for wearing it, mind you) that says, "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Love Me" that James so beautifully colored (er...scribbled) all by himself? (Even though he used red and black, like for the face and eyes...)
I still just find it so dear (and so crazy!) that my boy is old enough to color pictures and bring them home to mommy. Maybe if I hold onto all his cute little drawings I can hold onto him at this age for just a little bit longer.......or maybe not. But I can try, right?

Can you just see me when he's in grade school, bringing home artwork and worksheets and the like? I'd better get me a filing cabinet...

hiding

Yesterday evening I was doing the dishes. James played with cars on the floor while his Daddy played some Bach preludes & fugues on the piano (I love my husband!). After a few minutes I looked up and realized James was gone. Where was he?

I started looking around the house and couldn't find him anywhere. I knew he had to be in the house somewhere, but since I couldn't find him I started to get worried. (Have any other mommies noticed that it is so hard not to worry about your kid? It's like you become a mommy and your worry switch immediately turns on. I often still go into James' room while he's sleeping at night to check if he's breathing, like I used to do when he was a little baby - anyone else do that?)

Jonathan helped me and we started searching, and we searched pretty much everywhere, and no James! We were calling to him, saying, "James! Where are you?" No answer.

Suddenly we heard a faint little voice, so we again said, "Where are you?"

Daddy opened the door to our walk-in closet, and there was our little guy, grinning ear to ear and holding a giant red ball. It was actually hilarious, I wish I had had my camera with me to take his picture, standing there with a huge red ball, waiting for us to find him.

He said, "In da door! Holding da ball!!"

Phew. I told James that he scared me, and he smiled and said, "Yeah......I happy."

What a silly billy.

overheard

I just told James he had 5 minutes to play before nap time...and as he played with his cars on his Radiator Springs rug and narrated everything that went on, I couldn't help but write it down because it was so entertaining. My family will especially get a kick out of this:


Go down a-Bapa's car...down a-Bapa's car...go down a-Bapa's car....

A-go down a-Annie's car...down a-Annie's car...down a-Annie's car...

Hounk hounk! Hounk hounk!

Go down a-Annie's car....and dis way....and dis way....

Go backwards! a-Carrrrs

Red light....red light! Red light a-Annie's car.

Go down a-Annie's car. A-park. A-park-a right there. I home!! I home a-Annie's car a-Giki's car!

Oh, harder......aaaaahhh, oohhhhh (apparently a car was trying to get over a bump)

A bump! A bump! Annie's car a-bump! a-wheels too! 3......4......5.....Go!! Bapa's car right there. Home! Home, Bapa's car! Bapa? A-go-a-Giki's car. I home too! Yay! Sump sump sump! (which means "jump")

Bapa's car! Bapa's car red! Oh, a-Bapa's car red! Ahhh!! A-on top a-Bapa's car! Uh-oh....inside! Inside....look inside!

Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep Bapa's car!
Beep beep beep Annie's car! Beep beep Annie's car!

Go down, cars! Go down, cars! Go down cars!
Go up, car!

Bump!
A-bump! A-bump! Down a-bump!

A-stop-a red light.


Ahh, I love it. Life with a little boy is great. Now to get him to bed so I can finally take a shower and get dressed for the day!

outings

My little buddy and I had a fun morning.

First we went to the dollar store and walmart (I SO miss Honk's dollar store in Provo!) - we were looking for stickers for a "potty chart" for James - he was so into it. He kept saying "stickers! stickers!" so we searched the aisles saying, "hmmmm....hmmmmm" together until we found some! He was so excited!

Then we went and got a Jamba Juice - and they have the CUTEST tiny little cups and straws there, so James got his very own and he was so proud. He took many sips but hardly made a dent in it.

James then insisted on going to the library, even though he was just there last night with his daddy. We read about 4 or 5 Clifford books and then came home.

What a fun morning :)

we've got ourselves a BIG boy!

It has been a BIG couple of days for our James. He got a toddler bed and a potty! (and a haircut - but that was AFTER these pictures!) Wow, what a big boy!


Jonathan put the bed together and James loved it so much, and we ended up taking the crib right down. So far so good - James loves his new bed! He loves climbing in and out all by himself. Although he didn't nap today, he went right to sleep in his new bed last night and stayed in there all night, and he went right to bed tonight.




He also has tried to go potty twice today (and kinda sorta did go potty - and was SO pleased with himself, saying, "I did it!! I did it!!") and is so excited about it! We are basically just taking our time and letting him get used to it, but hey, if he wants to try, I am all for it!

Wow, my baby is a big boy, I'm not quite sure how I feel about that! What makes me so happy though is that several times a day he'll say, "Mommy? I happy." And that makes me the happiest!