more lessons...

I really want to post pictures of our "snow" days last week but Mike has so many cute ones on his iPhone that I need to upload...I'll have to share later.  It was interesting...

Life with a 4-year-old and 2-year-old is never dull.  Those who claimed I would be bored becoming a stay-at-home-mom were so wrong!  Now, I admit, I would like a few breaks every now and then (or every other day) but I am never bored!

Drew has been interesting, to say the least.  I'm telling you, that boy is clinging to every bit of control he can possible grasp right now and it is about to drive me completely nuts!  He had a huge meltdown the other night because he wanted to finish his sip of water BEFORE Mike started saying the blessing before dinner and when Mike didn't comply when Drew insisted he do it over again, we ended up with a screaming boy sent to his room with no dinner for over an hour!  By the time 8:00 rolled around we were more than ready for bedtime!  He has been pretty argumentative too, which became a problem at preschool yesterday and thus inspired our lesson for FHE last night.  Due to recent incidences like the one mentioned with dinner, I had planned on focusing on love and respect this month anyway, we really need it around here.  And I figured that with Valentine's Day coming up we could do cute crafts and stuff to go along with each lesson.

I tried a new Pinterest recipe for chicken fettuchini and made heart-shaped brownies which came out bigger than I had intended but were so yummy.  We had dinner, took baths and then had our lesson.  Mike read John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments" and we talked about how when we treat others with love and respect we are following the Savior's commandments.  I found this cute idea for acronyms for R-E-S-P-E-C-T (and yes, I kept singing Aretha in my head as I put it all together) but instead of making a flip book, we opted for a poster.  I read what each letter stood for and then found pictures for the kids to match to each depending on the description...visuals seem to work better for them and it is easier for Sue Sue to participate that way.  It turned out quite nicely and even mentioned respecting our teachers which allowed us to talk about his behavior at school.

I really want to instill in them more of a sense of love and respect at home especially.  If any of you have more than one kid you know how peace just seems so impossible at times, especially if they are going for the same toy!  I hope that as we focus on those two things this month, they will become more of a way of life around here...we shall see.  Sometimes I feel like our efforts are in vain but am encouraged when I read this quote by Pres. Joseph B. Wirthlin,

"The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel. The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

Our poster is hanging up in the kitchen to remind us each day.

I am happy to say that Drew's teacher was so gracious when he got in the car today from school.  She said he was a completely different kid today than he was yesterday and when I told her that we had a long discussion about it last night she thanked me and said she really appreciated us!  I was so proud of Drew.  Don't think he didn't remind me that because he got a good report he would be able to play Mario...that kid!  Parenting is not the easiest but I sure do love these little bugs will my whole wide heart!