Idaho

This past weekend our little family took a little trip up to Idaho to visit my husband's parents. The kids were surprisingly awesome on the drive there and not too horrid while visiting. There are always things that I'm worried my kids will break or destroy, but that's to be expected anywhere we go when we leave the apartment that my kids make messes in and we call home.

Little Red loves her grandparents, all of them, but I think she's especially keen on her paternal grandmother, whom she calls "Grandma(Insert First Name Here)" We'll just say it's Grandma B for the sake of some regard for anonymity on the interwebs : ) Grandma B took Little Red on walks, to the playground at the Elementary School where my hubby attended in years gone by, and to a totally cool little Petting Zoo at a Pet Store/Garden Shop.

Red loved feeding the goats, and I was totally freaked out by their odd pupils - did you know that goats have squarish looking pupils? We also saw pigs, lambs, llamas, donkeys, an emu and a yak.

Baby J also had a fun time with animals, though his interactions mostly involved Grandma and Grandpa's pet cats and dog. He loved chasing Daisy the Dog all around the house and even pet her a few times, though he was a bit rough with her (we're still working on teaching him to be soft). He would chase her around and around and her tail brushed against his nose a few times which resulted in the cutest little faces - he looked surprised, itchy and slightly tickled but all delighted at the same time. He also had a fun time with the stairs - surprisingly enough he was a pretty good climber on them!

He especially loved looking between the banister slats on the top stair landing area, I think he felt especially powerful as he roared his baby roar whilst overlooking his Kingdom - The Living Room!

J is going through a bit of stranger anxiety and didn't want to be held much by anyone but mom, but he'll grow out of his mommy-only phase all too quickly (I just love his cuddle-some self)! His stranger anxiety phase has paled in comparison so far to that of Little Red, she was and is a high-needs baby. Whether she came to our family because she needed us or we needed her will ever be a mystery to me, but I'm glad she's mine all the same.

Red impressed the in-laws with her prolific vocabulary (or at least, it seemed to me that she did... it could very well be that I am that mother that thinks their child is impressive but to everyone else she's ordinary... nah)! She took a tube and put it to her eye and said, "Look, it's my telescope!" And it seems like lately everything we tell her is, "Oh, I knew that." I don't know where she comes up with some of these things, but she's pretty much awesome!

So Idaho was crazy, but good, and as always I was nervous over nothing - no broken decorations, no accidents on the carpet that will be memorialized in stain, and no tantrum so horrendous that we had to follow through on our threats to, "turn this car around and go right back home!" It was good to see family, and it was good to have a nice little vacation for us all. And it was totally worth a trip to get these cute pictures of the kids being happy in their carseats!

The highlight of the weekend though was General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's hard to listen to/watch General Conference with small children around. There are always interruptions, but between diaper changes, fighting over colored pencils, temper tantrums and spilled snacks, I really was lifted up by The Spirit. A few things really touched my heart and spoke to my situation in particular. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded me to focus on accepting and seeking correction. I'm a bit horrible about this - but don't everyone leave a comment at once about what I ought to change... I'm not ready for that kind of rebuke just yet, haha. And I just loved the talk that Elder Lynn G. Robbins delivered about how to teach my children Christ-like attributes through disciplining with "patience and teaching." Too often I let my frustrations with my children turn into anger and a feeling of futility. I have to learn to be more gentle with them, more kind and more patient. But before I get all down on myself, I really ought to pat myself on the back for the things I'm doing pretty okay in right now (I wouldn't say I'm doing "great" in a lot of things, but I do pretty okay...). Everyone is at a different stage in their own personal progression and that's just fine. I oughtn't worry if I'm not as "perfect" about cleaning my house as Sister So And So is; or if my children aren't as musically inclined as Mrs. What's Her Name's kids; I just have to worry about what kind of a person I am and how that compares with the person I want to be.

The person I am today is lazy - I'm taking an unofficial 'day off' from everything (as much as a mom really ever can while still being at home with the kids). My hubby is being super awesome and watching the wonder nuts as they terrorize their toys today (bless him, he's such a dear to me), and I'm merrily blogging amongst the craziness. The laundry is clean but unfolded, the dishes are rinsed but not clean, the toys are strewn about the house and today that's okay with me. I'm sure tomorrow or perhaps the day after I'll throw myself into a cleaning frenzy, but today I'd rather be just mom than a maid.