Grrrrr.

I don't know why but I still sometimes fool myself into thinking my day is going to go as planned. Now THAT'S a joke. Sometimes I wonder why I even plan things.

This morning was just one of those. I have been looking forward to going to the gym in the morning with the boys, especially since they've both had mild colds for a number of days. So today was the day! Then I had some other small trips along the way, so all an all it was going to be very productive.

Not so much. First of all, the packages which I were going to be taking to the post office on the way, were in the other car so that meant a special trip later. Great. But not bad I suppose. So we got all packed in the van ready to go. I had driven only a block or so and had to stop at a stop sign when Max comes rolling off the seat on to the floor. Apparently the car seat hadn't been strapped in and I assumed it was. I haven't felt so panicked or like a horrible mother in a long time. We stopped and got him fixed up and relatively calm while I trucked on to the gym, still trying to calm myself down from the panic attack I had and trying to figure out when I'm going to stop by the post office later in the day.

We finally make it to the gym, where Max still starts whimpering at the sight of it. I think he was traumatized from the time I took him without his brother and we didn't go for a month and a half because of it. Now he's a little better and freaks but will calm 5 minutes or so after I leave. He still has his pacifier but we've stopped bringing his blankie which is nice. After battling a crying boy, getting signed in and all that, I make it to my class. Late. But at least I'm there. After 20 minutes or so of doing some pilates moves I'm failing miserably at, someone walks into the class to talk to the teacher. I KNEW it was for me. It was. I was guessing they had a stinky boy on their hands. So I put everything away, put my shoes back on and go see what's the matter, hoping it's only a quick diaper change. Yeah, not that.

Turns out I have a little biter. From what I understood, Levi and another boy were playing animals or something where they growled and pretended to bite. Only Levi really did bite which is not good. Not only because biting just isn't nice and he knows better, but apparently they have a zero tolerance for biting there. We were sent away and asked not to return for the day (he can come back another day though).

I was totally and completely disappointed, which I didn't want to show too much to Levi because he already felt horrible about biting and that we had to leave. And for some reason as we were leaving the parking lot a tear or two might have slipped out. It just stinks when all your plans get ruined and none of it was your doing.

After the gym we were going to take a look at a pre-school for Levi and have some lunch on the way but it was much too early to do that. So we went home where I feebly tried to do something that resembled a workout, but much of my motivation was gone. That and Max kept trying to sit on me while I was doing planks. Not fun.

Eventually we went to the pre-school, which Levi loved and is really cute, and signed him up. At least I got that done.

And as I was leaving I looked down and realized I had two different shoes on. Yeah. It's been that kind of morning.

Strong

"Show me your muscles boys!"

Jokester

Levi loves to tell jokes. The other day he told me one of his classics as I was on the computer working. It was "What did the pen say to the pencil? What's your point!" He tells me this one all the time. Then I asked him to tell me some more, expecting the other ones I've heard a million times (there are only 3-4 he knows) but he surprised me with some new ones he came up with all by himself. He thought he was so funny. I'll admit I was laughing pretty hard at my creative little guy.

"What did the jewel say to the bead? Where's your necklace?"

"What did the tree say to the leaf and the pine cone? Where's your home?"

"What did cow say to the milk? Where's your drink and food?"

"What did snow man say to the snowflakes? Why you so small?"

"Why did the race car drive on the race track and go to the race? Where's your truck and trailer?"

"What did the apple say to the orange? Where's your juice?"

"What did the turtle say to the shell? Where's your shirt?"

Oh, and if I didn't laugh for some reason he would demand it.

Girlfriends

This last week we got to go to a friends birthday party at McDonalds. It was great, lots of kids running around like crazy.

At one point Levi was up in the play structure with two of the girls there, Hailey and Bella (I believe that's her name). We'll, Bella came out yelling and Levi was pouting. I have no idea what happened but according to Levi he was trying to 'surprise her', whatever that means. So I talked to him and told him some people don't like to be surprised, and that he need to say sorry to her and Hailey. Well, when he tried to they both just looked mad and walked off. Oh well, and they all went to play.

So imagine my surprise when I pull out my camera and see the three of them just 'hanging out' in the corner. It was SO funny. The two girls were fighting about something and Levi during the whole thing had ranging emotions of what seemed to be amusement, indifference, and puzzlement at their argument. My favorite part is how he is just ever so casually leaning against the wall. Cool bud.

They all ran off and played the rest of the time and when I called out to Levi telling him it was time to go, I heard the two girls say "Don't go Levi!" It was so cute. Then in the car I like to talk about things and I asked him about it to which he told me he had 'two new girlfriends'.
Max was also hanging out with some girls, which we don't do a lot because many of my friends have boys. This one was Mylee and Max seemed to LOVE playing with her. She is such a sweet girl and when I asked her what they were doing she told me they were playing 'family' and that she was the mom and Max was the baby. It was adorable. She kept trying to help him when she saw him struggling up a step or something.

Tricky Stuff

"Levi, make a funny face."
Max, who usually wants to do what his big bro is doing, thought he'd give it a shot.
Getting better!

I will miss

I will miss seeing that little diaper ruffle peek out whenever he bends over.

I will miss feeling the cling of his little hands to my shirt

I will miss a little butt in the air while in a weird sleeping position

I will miss the sound of little knees crawling across the floor as fast as they can.

Out of this World

While the cousins were visiting Grandpa Gary took all the grandboys (and the rest of us) to Out of This World Pizza, or as Levi sometimes calls it "Pizza Planet".

This place is great. You totally wouldn't know what it was from the outside unless you knew about it. It's like a giant warehouse that was emptied and then filled with huge inflatables, toy structures, kids areas, a pizza parlor/food court and tons of tables all with an outer space theme. Basically a kids dream.

Levi was about two when we first went and needed help getting up things but now he is fearless! He even goes on the 5 and up inflatable by himself. Shhhh! Don't tell. But to be fair I know a number of 5 year olds smaller than him.
Max on the other hand...... was still a little skeptical and very hesitant to do anything at first, which I think had a lot to do with the fact that there were so many kids there. Mostly he just wanted me to hold him, that is until pizza came and he ate 3 pieces I believe along with a couple of cookies. Yipes. I don't want to think about how much he'll down once he hits those teenage years.

Little by little the nerves wore off and he began to play and at first he wanted to just fix the cars.
Eventually, with some help from grandpa pushing he was able to go out on his own.
He went down some slides
and EVEN down one of the inflatable ones. Sorry no pics. Why? Because I was on there with him. I love it when the kids need 'help' playing there. I'm pretty sure I'm not suppose to do but no one stopped me and there was no sign. Maybe Jason was just pulling my chain. He's good at that. That and I'm super gullible. Ahem, trusting.

We'll be back soon "Pizza Planet"!

Just Cuz

We've had lot's of visitors the past couple weeks. Recently we said bye to the White's who were up for a visit. Needless to say the boys were in heaven to have their cousins around. We did lots of playing at our house, had some indoor picnics, went to Munchkinland, Out of this World Pizza, and just played around.

Only now am I realizing that I hardly took any pictures of the whole week. Sometimes I'm horrible like that. But I did get a couple, sorry guys! I suppose we were having just too much fun.


Here's Mr. Henry
And his big bro Elijah.
It was lots of fun, both Levi and Max are still talking about it. Hope it's not too long till we see you again!

Albert the Alligator

Being semi-crafty, I often have people contacting me about some fabric or other craft supplies they have that thought I could use for some crafting project. Guess what my mom bought me once? A huge chunk of beeswax. What the heck am I going to do with that? When she was buying it she told me she had the thought "Kendra can do something with that." That was several years ago and I still have it sitting in my craft room, and maybe, just maybe, one day I'll figure out what to do with it.

This time I had a friend whose mom, another friend of mine, had a huge alligator she got for the grand kids for Christmas. While it was in hiding, the fur on the bottom part of the mouth got a bit singed and had a hole. They were sad and ended up getting a new one and then thought I could salvage it somehow.

Now this I could use cause the boys LOVE alligators. In fact we have 3.
I had it hidden for at least a month because I have a ton of projects in the works and I told myself I wouldn't start new projects until I finished the old. But I knew I needed to do it, mostly because do you know how hard it is to keep a 6 foot alligator hidden from two curious, mischievous monkeys? It's not an easy task. So I showed Levi, who I know would give me several reminders a day till I had it done. What a motivator! And guess what? I finished it up that night because he'd seriously came to me at least 10 times to ask if it was done. I cut out the bottom, under mouth panel and bought some similar fabric hand stitched it up. It wasn't perfect but it was finished and off my list.

When it was done Jason and I decided to put it where Levi would see it first thing in the morning, but not the bedroom because we didn't want him to freak out and wake Max. So we put it in the bathroom. I was up late and about midnight I hear his door open, him go to the bathroom and go back to bed. When I go to check on him later guess whose lying in bed with him?

He's dragged "Al" around ever since and I'm sure gained some serious muscle power too. It's almost as tall as I am!

Oh, and if anyone ever comes up with a great project involving beeswax, let me know.

Five Fingered Monster

Whenever an occasion calls for olives, we have to be sure to have several cans on hand. Hmmm. I onder why?

Mondays

Every Monday we do a playgroup/pre-preschool co-op in my ward. Levi LOVES going, and especially loves it when it's over at our house, despite the fact it's hard to share toys sometimes.

When we had it here last week we made bead necklaces. Levi has been into stringing them and it really keeps him occupied. Everyone else loved it too. Max mostly supervised and chomped on popcorn, the kids snack of choice. They love our popcorn machine and usually are demanding some soon after getting in the door. You should see how much popcorn the boys can down. Who wouldn't love it?
These are two of our friends. Benno and Gi-j, who are Benjamin and Paige, they just have really cool nicknames. I remember when I would ask Levi who he played with in nursery and he would usually say 'Benno' but I totally though it was a cartoon character (our nursery is huge and I don't know them all, it's hard to keep track). We always have a lot of fun when the kids home, though my house usually looks like a tornado struck after they leave.

Rah, Rah, Rah!!!!

This week Levi gave his first scripture and prayer in primary. When he got the assignment two weeks ago (we had conference last week) he was so excited and told his teachers he HAD to tell me and show me right away. And he got up and did just that.

For the past two weeks we have been having him repeat a simple scripture we picked and he even memorized it, I was way impressed.

For the big day Grandpa and Grandma Goodrich were in town so they were able to come, along with Nese and Gram with dad helping and myself. There was quite a Levi cheering crowd.
"Mosiah chapter 16, verse 15. Teach dem that redempshun cometh frew Christ the Nord, who is the very Eternal Faver. Amen." All by himself. I actually shed a few tears.
Dad helped him a little bit with the prayer cause he can come up with some pretty crazy stuff sometimes. My favorite thing is that he was practically eating the microphone most of the time.

Levi Dean, I am so proud of you and am sure this is just the beginning of your great speaking career. I don't care what anyone else says, I'm your #1 fan and president of the Levi Fan Club.

Anxious

Right now I am in my office/craft room/studio whatever you want to call it and have most everything pulled out and in a huge pile. One of the shelves I was using broke and I talked Jason into putting up shelves in the closet, which we have been talking about but were going to wait on until the fireplace bookshelves/cabinets Jason is working on in the garage are done.

The shelves are huge and are the full area of the closet with 5 shelves total. I'm SO excited to orgainze all my stuff but am finding to do it the way I want it I need to get some containers to put my stuff in. Too bad it's almost 1am. I am loving going through everything and if I tell you I'm going to the craft store, stop me, I have SO much stuff already. Sewing, quilting fabric, patterns, scrapbooking stuff, knitting, crocheting, card supplies, hair bow stuff (which I have far too much of considering I have boys), photography equipment, you name it. But this is to help me organize my work stuff too, which has gotten a little out of control. On that note, if you ever need any crafting supplies, let me know, I love to share.

I guess I'll have to go to bed now and wait till I can go to the store tomorrow. Please, no one come over until then, my house is a disaster.

Special thanks to Jason's mad skills, building it all in less than 3 hours or so. You're my hero! I'm so spoiled.

Them's Fighting Words

This weekend the "Uncles", meaning grandma and grandpa Goodrich and Levi's uncles, came a 'calling and Levi and Max couldn't be more thrilled (us too). Levi had been talking about it for over two weeks. He even made necklaces for grandma and grandpa, though he was a little upset because he didn't have ones for the uncles. I'm sure they'll get over it.
Levi got to go off to the beach and the "Ice Cream Factory" with them while I caught up on things and Max took a much needed nap. He came back full of smiles, full of sugar and sand in his shoes. A great day out with some of his favorite people.

Like the last time they visited, Jason and his bros played a several day long game of Monopoly. I'm not sure who won.
I'm pretty sure Philip didn't.
Oh, and the stick fighting.
Max wanted to play too, but it took him a little bit to figure out how to fit through the door with his stick. FYI we don't keep sticks in the house, he got it in there just fine, it was getting it out that was tricky.But he figured it out. He wore that hat much of the time. It's his new favorite costume and has been parading around as a fireman for several weeks now. They even went to church with us and grandma and grandpa got to see Levi give his first scripture and payer in primary.
But eventually the car had to be packed,
and goodbye's were said.
Goodrich's, we will miss you. The house won't be the same.
PS Levi has forgiven you for leaving. I'm pretty sure he was under the impression that you were staying here forever.

Lead Me, Guide Me

As I was finishing my mission I told myself I was going to do at least one hour of scripture study a day, like I had been doing for the last year and a half. It was in that hour a day, plus talking about it all the time, teaching it, bearing testimony of it, and basically living and breathing it 24/7 for a year and a half, that I really learned to love and know the gospel in very profound way. I just didn't want to be one of those missionaries that said their mission was the spiritual highlight of their life, that is one of my worst fears.

After my mission I was pretty good about it due to all those religion classes and especially since I taught at the MTC for two years for 3-4 hours a day where I got PAID to study it, teach it, and share it with missionaries heading off to proclaim the gospel (talk about best job ever). Teaching those missionaries changed me and I am positive I learned much more from them than they ever did from me.

Then I had kids. I only had a short three weeks between the MTC and having Mr. Levi. Boy was motherhood a shocker. For the next three months studying my scriptures was not usually the top of my list, considering I was living on 1-2 hours of sleep at a time and was pretty much a walking zombie with an internal voice saying "sleep, sleep, need more sleep" and that's about it. Then it got better and I could do something else besides obsess about sleep and figure out how to really make the gospel and scriptures part of my life, my real live crazy mommy life. Figuring all this out was particularly hard because growing up scripture study, family prayer, family home evening and even family dinners were spotty at best, and in Jason's family it was pretty similar (except for the dinner thing I think).

Fast forward to today. I think back to those days when I thought I could do a minimum of one hour a day of quiet scripture study and just sit to bask in the spirit for long stretches of time. That goal is great and some may be able to do it, but I can't. At least not at this point in my life as much as I'd like to. But being a mother has taught me more about the gospel than I could have ever imagined. Lately I have able to have amazing moments, some even more powerful than what I felt as a missionary while going about my ordinary day or when I'm able to take a moment to read from the scriptures, Ensign or other church books.

Sitting down to share a scripture story or being in the car explaining a basic gospel principal with my boys have brought countless spiritual experiences. What an amazing gift it is to be able to teach a child, because like it was at the MTC, I am pretty sure I am learning more than they are. Being a mother has helped me better understand my own personal relationship with my Heavenly Father in a way that I couldn't even fathom and better understand how wonderfully simple the gospel is.

While we're not perfect at scripture study, family prayer, family home evenings and family dinners we are learning together how to make them an integral part of our lives. I'm extremely grateful for my opportunity to be a mother and how it has changed me as a person. And most especially grateful for all my boys and their patience with me and my not so perfect self.

Up Against a Fence

Last week we had a visit from Aunt Pegi and cousin Addison. What a whirlwind! All three kids were running around like crazy most of the time, it was fun to watch. Where do they get the energy?!?!

There was also a bit of wrestling. Yipes! But they were laughing the whole time.
We went to the zoo and had a ton of fun looking at everything and the kiddos were pulled around like kings and queens in their wagon. What a tough life.
By the lions we actually were able to take some pictures with the statues, because it's usually surrounded and I don't want to deal with the insanity. Max immediately fell in love with a little lion cub one that was perfect for riding. He kept trying to push people off when he saw them on 'his lion'. A family picture. Jason, what are you doing?

So cute. They are all definitely Goodrich's!

A Sister

For some reason Levi has been talking about his 'sister' at least several times a day. I have no idea why he started thinking about it or who mentioned it to him but it is obviously something that he's been thinking about. He's said that she is in heaven with "Heavenly Faver" and she will have Max's crib when Max is a big boy. He's so cute. Any time he sees a girl toy he says we should get it for his sister, he has been stringing beads (a new favorite activity) and guess who he's making one for? His sister. The other day he asked me what we should call his sister. I've had to explain to him numerous times that we're not having a baby right now and we don't get to choose if we get a brother or sister, Heavenly Father does. Despite all the explanations he still insists we have a sister. I just hope when baby #3 comes it better be a girl or he might be very disappointed. Probably not though, I'm sure he'd be fine with a boy.

Note: I am not pregnant and am not planning on it for at least a bit longer. Don't worry, I'll let everyone know when it happens. I'm no good at keeping secrets like that.

Hiding

Yeah, he was in the closet and thought it was hilarious. So did I.