FHE, Journals, and the Brood

“Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.”
--Spencer W. Kimball, New Era, December 1980

Our lesson for FHE was on journals and why we keep journals. We talked about how important it is to write things down or they soon get forgotten. As an illustration I went back through each of the kids journal I keep and pulled out things about them that I had forgotten. As we read through them, they each got a charge out of things written about them, and I was so glad I took the time to write them down. I'm not nearly as good at it now as I used to be, but as a family we committed to write in our journals once a month on Fast Sunday before our nightly treat.

KIERSTEN

2 Years 9 Months
One day I was busy and wouldn't read her a story. She sat down and poutily said, "Why don't you guys teach me how to read?" Along with panties have come new words such as "snuggy." In sacrament she stood up on the bench and announced to me and the bench behind us that she had a snuggy. I couldn't pull her down fast enough.

Kiersten is such a happy person with a special glow about her. She always wants to do what is right. She loves to read late into the night, and a book is the first thing she grabs when she awakens. Her circle of friends is rather large and rarely does she play with the same person more than two days in a row. She is smart, loves the draw and color, and is becoming a good little pianist. Kiersten's hair is impossible to curl; unfortunately she has inherited her mother's very straight hair.

ERIK

 23 Months
He and Kiersten have also developed an enchantment for cows. I frequently hear them downstairs yelling at the cow to stay in the bedroom. I was headed downstairs one day when Kiersten quickly told me to be careful and not step on the cows. Apparently they had let them out to wander in the laundry room. Before going to bed, Erik has to tell the cow to get out from under his bed so he can go to sleep. One day Erik told me, "Cow. Van." I told him there was no cow in the van. He replied, "Cow. Red car." No cows in the red car. When I told Tyler, he thought it would be funny to take it a little bit further. So he took Kiersten and Erik outside to look in the van and at the same time make mooing sounds. Erik's eyes got so big and round. In fact it scared him to the point that when he came back inside he wouldn't go get his jammies for me because it was dark in there and there was a cow under the crib. I made Tyler go with him and show there were no cows. For the rest of the night he just sat on my lap with his bear. So much for big scary monsters.

Erik is a wonderful big brother when he wants to be. His little sister, Ash, absolutely adores him. He eats, sleeps, and dreams basketball. The basketball hitting the sport court is usually one of the first sounds of the morning. He is smart, helpful, and is always watching our for others, especially the little guy. He loves to run and is a habitual nail biter (we're trying to cure that). He is reluctant to wear sandals or flip flops; he prefers shoes and socks . . . I think just to be prepared in case he needs to enter a quick game of basketball or soccer. 

NATHAN

2 Years 2 Months
One day we were at the breakfast table and he tried to stab his pancake with his fork, but when he got it to his mouth there was no pancake on it. He looks at me, holds his fork up, and says,“Not working!" He made up a game called "Poopy" where he backs his little bum into someone, saying, "Poopy, poopy, poopy," but it actually comes out "Foopy." For some reason he doesn't say the P in front of some words.

Nate is our silly boy, always trying to be the funny man and doesn't quite seem to pull it off. He has discovered chapter books and loves that he can now read. Nate is sensitive, yet tough. Erik has learned to not mess with him 'cause Nate won't take any of it. He loves to touch and will unexpectedly start caressing your arm or leg. He says, "I love you," a lot. He is not my boy. Nate is very good about putting himself to bed when he's sleepy. He's also a very mean little soccer player and DOES NOT like getting water in his ears (swimming lessons?).

ASHLYN

17 Months
She's learned to "read." One of her favorite pastimes is to get a book, open it, and say, "gooda gooda gooda" as if she is reading. Whenever anyone walks in the door from being away from Ashlyn for even a moment, she runs up to them, gives them a hug, and says, "You miss me?"

Ash is the baby of the family. I try hard not to baby her, but it's so darn hard. She's just adorable and fun and happy. She is a book worm like her siblings and has finally decided to be potty trained. She says words wrong like honeybird for hummingbird and I don't care if she never learns the real name. She thinks she's big and often tries to join in the fun with "her kids." She loves to ride her bike and even rode it home from the Ruebush cousins' house all by herself (they live two blocks away, but you have to cross a semi-busy road).

What has happened to my kids? I feel like I blinked and suddenly they're grown. We don't have babies in the house anymore. They're independent. I don't worry so much about where they are and what they're up to. They're fun. We enjoy hanging out. I like them. I hope them like me. I realized the other day, Tyler and I are halfway to having a child leave our home. That's a scary thought. Don't blink, Missy. Don't blink.