The Best Side of the Bed

I got an email from Brent with this subject line "we are switching sides of the bed." With this link (read the 2nd sentence).

Trip to Home Depot

The kids and I had quite the enlightening trip to Home Depot. We stopped by to get bird block to protect our poor little garden that is being slowly raveged by chickens, skunks, rabbits and who knows what else. But we gleaned two insights to life that had nothing to do with gardening or home improvement.

The first was from a sweet grandpa who worked there and helped us find the bird block. As I approached him he offered my condolences to me and my husband (who wasn't with us). He went on to tell us that with a daughter as cute as ours Brent was going to come to the worst moment in his life in about ten years, when that first boy pulls into the driveway ready to take her out. It was pretty cute. We called Brent to pass on the condolences but he wasn't worried, since he's planning to join Kate on all her dates anyway.

The second was from the teenage checker, who complimented me on my sea horse shirt (pictured above) and told the kids that sea horses are the only species where the male carries the babies. It is one of my favorite maternity shirts at this point, and we mutually discovered the irony of a human female wearing a seahorse shirt while pregnant.

How to Parent

I came across a bit of parenting advice this week from two places, and thought them both worth passing on.

From the final page of Danny: the Champion of the World by Ronald Dahl (which we finished with the kids last night and loved)

A MESSAGE

to children who have read this book

When you grow up

and have children of your own,

do please remember something important.

A stodgy parent is no fun at all!

What a child wants

—and DESERVES—

is a parent who is

SPARKY!

It fits nicely with the narrative of the book.  Hmm, what would be the proper sparky response to this?

Also, one of my favorite bloggers passed along this list. Which seems good enough to post in entirety.

1. At least once a day, make each child helpless with laughter.

2. Sing in the morning. It's hard both to sing and to maintain a grouchy mood, and it sets a happy tone for everyone--particularly in my case, because I'm tone deaf and my audience finds my singing a source of great hilarity.

3. Get enough sleep yourself. It's so tempting to stay up late, to enjoy the peace and quiet. But morning comes fast. Along the same lines...

4. Wake up before your kids. We were so rushed in the morning that I started getting up half an hour earlier than my children. That means I can get myself organized, check my email, post to Slate, and get my bag packed before they get up. It's tough to wake up earlier, but it has made a huge difference in the quality of our mornings.

5. I've been researching the hedonic treadmill: people quickly adapt to new pleasures or luxuries, so it takes a new pleasure to give them a jolt of gratification. As a result, I've cut back on treats and impulse buys for my kids. The ice-cream sandwich or the Polly Pockets set won't be an exciting treat if it isn't rare.

6. Most messages to kids are negative: "stop," "don't," "no." So I try to cast my answers as "yes.""Yes, we'll go as soon as you've finished eating," not "We're not leaving until you've finished eating." It's not easy to remember to do this, but I'm trying.

7. Look for little ways to celebrate. I haven't been doing holiday breakfasts long, but they're a huge source of happiness. They're quick, fun, and everyone gets a big kick out of them.

8. Repetition works. A friend told me he was yelling at his kids too much, so he distilled all rules of behavior into four key phrases: "keep your hands to yourself"; "answer the first time you're asked"; "ask first"; and "stay with us" (his kids tended to bolt). You can also use the school mantras: "Sit square in your chair;" "accidents will happen," "you get what you get, and you don't get upset" (i.e., when cupcakes are handed out, you don't keep trying to switch).

9. Say "no" only when it really matters. Wear a bright red shirt with bright orange shorts? Sure. Put water in the toy tea set? Okay. Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed? Fine. Samuel Johnson said, "All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle."

10. When I find myself thinking, "Yippee, soon we won't have to deal with a stroller," I remind myself how fleeting this is. All too soon the age of Cheerios and the Tooth Fairy will be over. The days are long, but the years are short.

Good Easter Stuff

It seems like it happens so fast that kids go from having a vague idea of how the world fits together to suddenly grasping everything. This Easter I feel like Kate can suddenly understand so much. So, while I have not been ambitious enough to do a passover dinner like a certain very cool family I know, I'm glad we've been good about studying the last week of the life of Christ. Below is the reading guide Danee gave us as a bookmark, and tonight I also found an article called Reflections on the Savior's Last Week.

†Sunday -Triumphal entry into Jerusalem Matt. 21:1-11
†Monday - Clearing the temple
Matt. 21:12-15
†Tuesday - Scribes questioned the authority of Jesus and asked about paying tribute money Matt. 21; Matt. 22
†Wednesday - Discuss the Parable of the 10 virgins Matt. 25
†Thursday - The Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane Matt. 26
†Friday - Trial, Crucifixion and burial of Jesus Matt. 27
†Saturday -Discuss missionary work in the spirit world 1 Pet. 3:18-20; 1 Pet. 4:6
†Easter Sunday - The empty tomb and Resurrection Matt. 28

And I hope you don't mind if I get a little pagan for a second, but I have one other idea to share. Of course it is about food. Last year I got the recipe for Bunny Bums from a woman in our ward, and they have fast become an Easter-time favorite. These adorable, fluffy bunny behinds are a favorite of my kids. Last Friday the kids got to go to a friend's house for an egg hunt, and we brought some Bunny Bums along.
Bunny Bums
Dissolve 2 Tblsp. yeast in a small bowl with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup sugar. Let rise.

Combine in large bowl:
6 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup powdered milk

Make a well in the center of the flower mixture and add:
1/2 cup oil
1 beaten egg
2 cups warm water
the bowl of yeast

Preheat oven to 360.

Mix together and then on a floured surface knead in about 1 1/2 cups flour for 2–4 min. to make a soft but not sticky dough. Shape into ball and place in a greased bowl. Let rise in a warm spot 1 hr. or until double. (This dough can also be used for cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, or dinner rolls.)

To shape the bunny bums, roll the dough into a rope about 11–12" long and crisscross on greased baking sheet, turning the ends to look like floppy ears (make them a little long and gangly, because they puff up a lot). Roll a small amount of dough into a ball and place in center of hole to form the tail. Allow for dough to raise about double when baking. Bake @ 360 for 10–12 min or until golden brown. Cool on wiwre racks. When cooled, frost bunny with powdered sugar icing and sprinkle with pastel confetti sprinkles.

Powdered Sugar Icing
Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and enough milk for desired consistency.

And one final adventure in kid-friendly baking. Check out the rainbow cake the kids and I made by using white cake mix and food coloring to our heart's content (saw this on the Cookie Magazine blog). Very fun to experiment with color mixing, and then eat the experiment.

Doughnuts and Music and Fame!

We just listened to the most fascinating RadioLab podcast about music, which speculates why speakers of tonal languages, such as Mandarin, are hugely more likely to develop perfect pitch. I guess Danny and Kate are a lost cause, but if we can just get this next baby fluent in Mandarin by age two...

And one more RadioLab note. Armstrong & Getty read an email of mine on their show today, also about RadioLab, a different episode. I'm such a nerd. They made a pretty good size segment out of it. They said my name like 4 times. I was so excited that I couldn't figure out where I put my breakfast until an hour later, when I found it in the microwave.
Also, I can't wait to make semi-homemade doughnuts again. I haven't made these since Kate was three. Danny was asking me how doughnuts were made this week, so I think it's time again.

A Freezer! and things tried online

I have a short, very specific list of things I like to tell Brent I need to become a fully-equipped housewife. This week, we crossed one of those items off the list: Brent found a freezer on Craigslist! (blessed site) Suddenly my life feels more complete! This means if I wanted to, I could shop the Costco freezer aisle again. I can triple my dinner recipes. And I can make better-looking cakes! Can you see why I feel so liberated? (Actually I'm kind of scaring myself with just how house-wife I sound, but hey, if the shoe fits...) I can't wait to try these cake layering tips.
While I'm on a roll. Here are a few other things online I've tried or am looking forward to trying:

Things to try

• Meyer lemon and chocolate cake
  
• Irish eggs benedict (heck ya!)

Things tried

• Shrimp Étouffée (yummy and saucy and pretty darn good)
• Google Reader (I am in love with my reader, see "AmberLee's shared items in my side bar for some favorites.)
• RadioLab (our newest podcast we enjoy)
• Cannon SLR tutorial (now I at least know what all the buttons on my camera are for, mostly. Thanks Jon.)
• And you've already heard about these, but I'm also enjoying
  
• Pandora (our current favorite stations are Edith Pilaf, Ben Folds, "I'm Yours," "Autumn Leaves," and Ray Charles. We've also found some great mariachi. Thanks Jennifer.)
• Food storage made easy (I love their baby steps list. I'm behind, but I love it. Thanks, Cherie).

General Conference Fishing Game

I adapted the memory game I made for last conference into a new little game for my CTR-6 kids: Conference fishing (click to download). (I had to leave Elder Wirthlin's square blank, which made me a little sad.) I just cut out each piece and folded it in half, then added a paperclip. The fishing rod is a magnet sewn into a piece of fabric and strung to a dowel. I am currently bribing Kate to memorize all the names. We'll see if it works.