Fall family pics

We got some family pics done a few weeks ago by my very talented cousin Mallory. Despite that fact that my kids were super grumpy that day, we still managed to get some good ones.

The biggest, fattest, shockingest shock of my life

On Sunday, October 13 the executive secretary comes up to us right before church and said that the bishop wanted to talk to us really quick after sacrament meeting. I didn't think anything of it. I have been teaching the marriage and family relations class in my ward this year and it's not over yet. And everyone loves my class. So of course I wasn't getting a new calling. I had to finish out the year teaching the rest of the marriage and family lessons.

So we go in to the bishop's office (after the kids had been rotten in sacrament meeting, btw) and he says, "Christy, we'd like you to serve as our new ward Primary President." (I might add that the Primary Program was that same day too.) WHAT THE ????!!!! I about fell off my chair. I was so shocked I really didn't know what to say. So I just sat there, dumbfounded, looking at the bishop like he had lost his mind.

Then I finally mustered up enough composure to say, "No thanks." I mean seriously, me? Primary President? That has got to be some sort of joke. Kids are not exactly my strong point. Like at all. I'm not good with kids, I don't relate to them well at all, I struggle terribly with my own...let alone other people's kids...and let alone a whole room full of them.

Anyway, I tried to tell the bishop all of that, when of course I just start bawling and lose all composure. And then he just said, "Well, will you at least think about it?" So I agreed to think about it. I immediately left church and cried the rest of the day. And the next day.

A few days later I called my friend, Audrey, who I remember posting on her blog awhile back some of these same feelings. Anyway, she calmed me down and helped me get into a better state of mind to at least start to think about this.

Then the next Sunday the bishop came over and asked if I had decided yet. I still couldn't say yes. It took me a good 2 weeks to even think about possibly saying yes.

Anyway, so...long story short, I finally said yes, and I am absolutely terrified!!!! I have no problem speaking in church, teaching college, conducting leadership trainings, teaching Sunday School or Relief Society, but put me in front of a bunch of kids and I have no clue what to do and I freak out. I have enjoyed teaching the marriage and family relations class, and I was really sad to get released from that.

I have no clue whatsoever about anything Primary. My poor counselors probably think I'm nuts.

And, I don't know what we're going to do with Zach. He doesn't go to nursery til April. And Emily will be coming into Sunbeams in Jan. I can just see a disaster happening when I am up there doing sharing time and she will throw a fit about sitting with her class.

This is definitely going to be a big challenge for me. I need some serious help. Please pray for me. A lot. I'm willing to serve where I'm needed...I'm just gonna need some major help.

P.S. For more info on Primary or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click here.

Terrible three's

I have really been struggling with Emily lately. She has been SO WHINY and it's DRIVING ME NUTS! And I don't know what to do about it. I try to think of fun things to do and fun places to go, but she just whines about them. Seriously, it's like pulling teeth to get her to leave the house.

Also, when people come over, she is so clingy. She won't play with other kids, she just climbs all over me when I'm trying to talk to whoever is over. And she cries every time I try to take her anywhere. In nursery, she sits by herself in a corner and won't play with the other kids.

She is also mean to Zach. She takes stuff from him all the time, pushes him over, hits him, bites him, etc.

She has also started saying she is a baby and crawls around and wants to eat in the high chair and wants me to feed her and just grunts and points at things and won't talk. She wants to be carried everywhere and wants to sit in the baby seat in the shopping carts. I cannot handle this. I can't carry around 2 kids, and I can't put Zach in the back of the cart.

What am I doing wrong? I try to do fun activities and spend one-on-one time with her and give her enough attention, but I just cannot do that 24/7. I'm exhausted. My "kid-brain lobe" is burnt out. I don't know what to do, but I can't keep this up.

Babysitters

Lots of people say to me, "Why don't you just hire a babysitter for a few hours so you can have a break and get out?" I'll tell you why. Finding people to watch my kids stresses me out.

1. Babysitters are expensive. My budget is tight and I just can't bring myself to pay $30 for a night out. Especially when my kids are asleep for most of the time. I'm sorry but I don't think babysitters are worth that much money.

2. I hate calling them. I don't know the teenagers in my neighborhood very well, and they don't know me either, and I feel awkward calling them. Plus, I hate calling people and leaving messages only for them not to call me back. (This has happened multiple times.) And, twice I have hired a babysitter who has cancelled at the last minute.

3. I hate asking people for favors. I can only ask family members or neighbors for favors so often, and usually only for short periods of time, and only certain people are willing. My parents live close and are willing to help out occasionally. But I feel like I have to reserve those favors for times when I really need it, like doctor's appointments or stuff like that. My sister used to be willing and then she moved far away and can't anymore. :( And my neighbors are often busy running their kids here and there. There really isn't anyone in my neighborhood that only has younger kids like me.

4. Emily throws a fit anytime I leave her with a babysitter.

So that is why I end up doing everything myself. And then blowing up because I get burned out. I really need to find a solution to this problem because I can't do it myself.

Funnies

This is just Zach getting into stuff. He loves to empty everything out of the cupboards and drawers, take all the magnets off the fridge that he can reach, and open and close doors. Sometimes he shuts himself into a room and can't get out. He sure is a curious little fellow!

Sometimes I paint Emily's fingernails and toenails. After I was done the other day, she said that she was going to paint mine. Oh boy! This is how my mani/pedi turned out. Ha!

And of course I was out of nail polish remover.

She found this basting brush in a drawer and said she needed to mop the floor. So she got a cup of water, dipped the brush in it and started "mopping" the floor with it. Ha!

She has also become obsessed with Dora the Explorer. She LOVES it. And she has started playing Dora and going on "adventures". It really is quite funny and she reenacts the show pretty well.

I sure do love these sillies.

Field trips and preschool

We had a little preschool field trip last week to Gardner Village to find the witches!

And today, Zach really wanted to play with the preschool girls, so he made himself right at home. Ha!

Emmy still cries every time she has to go to preschool, but I think she is getting better. The other day, she even told us that it was time for preschool and she was the teacher. She had Matt and I sit in a "big circle" and she read us some stories and told us about the letter we were learning about today.

I really hope she is liking it because it's really like pulling teeth to get her to go. But when it's over, she is happy and usually says she had fun.

The great pumpkins

Emmy had a blast doing pumpkins this year. She was very intrigued by the pumpkin guts inside.

But would not touch them and had to use a spoon. Ha!

She drew the faces on them with a pencil and then I cut them out.

Here she is with her finished pumpkin!

She also LOVED painting pumpkins. Like a lot.

She would paint them with 10 different colors, wait for the paint to dry and then paint them again. Over the course of 3-4 days these things got about 30 different coats of paint.

Adventure is out there!

Halloween this year was SO MUCH FUN! Our costumes were inspired by our little Zach, who when he was born had a very similar resemblance to Russell from the movie, UP!

I attempted to be the house from the movie. I spent many hours on my costume, and even enlisted my mom's help, but it was pretty much a complete failure so I had to come up with a last-minute backup plan. So I was Ellie. Even though she isn't around when Russell and Kevin come along, she was still part of the movie!

Emily loved her bird costume. And she loved carrying around those balloons everywhere. When we got ready to go to our ward party, she said that she could not wear shoes because birdies don't wear shoes. She also said she was going to fly to the party because she was a bird. Ha!

I made her costume using a feather boa and a hot glue gun. I think it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Emily had so much fun at the ward Halloween parade and she marched right along carrying those balloons. It was super cute.

And the baby who inspired it all was the cutest little Russell I have ever seen. He just made such a perfect Russell.

A lot of people didn't "get" our costumes. In fact, one person called me Old Mother Hubbard. Sheesh! And it took some people awhile before they caught on, but once they did, they loved it! We had so much fun being the UP family.


And Emily had a BLAST Trick or Treating. Seriously, trick or treating with a 3-year-old is one of the funnest things I have done!

She would run from house to house, yelling, "I'm running! I'm running! Come on guys!" And she was so stinkin' cute at saying trick or treat and thank you at each door. She kept wanting to go to more houses!

She was just so excited that she could go get candy from all the neighbors' houses! It was so much fun!