Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Family Update

I just wanted to write down some things about us right now. Kinda and update.

David
  • Finished his man cave and loves his huge TV.
  • Still loves Duke basketball and almost cried when they lost their first game of the season the other day.
  • Is doing well at work.
  • Currently serves as ward clerk for our ward and that takes a lot of his time.
  • With work, his calling and staying healthy, there is not a lot of time left for hobbies.
  • His favorite place to be is home with Lincoln and me.
  • Is ready for winter to be over because he is tired of being cold.
Shannon
  • Still works for Utah Virtual Academy.
  • Loves spending time with Lincoln and David.
  • Currently loves watching Modern Family, The Middle, 30 Rock and The Office
  • Looking forward to my birthday.
  • Loves Zumba - It's so fun!
  • Learned how to make bread pretty well if I do say so myself.
Lincoln
  • Is doing well in Joy School and loves his school friends.
  • Learning how to write the letter "L"
  • Knows how to spell his name.
  • Knows all the letters and sounds in the alphabet.
  • Counts to twenty.
  • Loves robots
  • Can't wait for his robot birthday party
  • Knows his birthday
  • Loves to play in the dirt
  • His favorite color is black or green (depending on the day)
  • His favorite food is Mater Fruit Snacks. :) That's what he tells me...
  • Dislikes potatoes
  • Loves to swim
  • Wants to be Super Man for Halloween.
  • Favorite movies are Despicable Me and Wall-e.
  • Loves to be outside and going to the park.
  • Learning how to pedal a big boy bike with training wheels.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Circus Time



Tonight, Linc and I went on a little date to the circus. Washington County hosted a circus and gave out free tickets for children's admission. We had a great time. i didn't get any pictures of the acts because I was paranoid that the flash on my camera would send an animal into a frenzy or that it would distract one of the trapeze or tightrope walkers and make them fall. The pictures that I have of the circus were found online.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the circus and we will definitely go back next year. When I asked Lincoln what his favorite part of the circus was, he told me that it was the motorcycles and the elephants. I have to agree. I think those were my favorites too.





The motorcycles made me very nervous. It started out with one motorcycle riding around in a sphere cage. Next, another motorcycle guy came out and entered the cage with rider number one. That was crazy. They were riding around extremely fast and I was sure they were going to crash. Suddenly, a third motorcycle enters the cage and they continue the insanity by driving around too fast and coming within inches of crashing. When a fourth motorcycle came out I was ready to fall off my seat out of nervousness. Sure enough that fourth motorcycle entered the cage and the insanity resumed. I was amazed at how quickly the motorcycles were driving around each other and doing crazy stunts. My heart was beating very fast and I was relieved when their act was over. Lincoln was mesmerized the entire time. I don't think he blinked during the entire act.
The final act of the night was the elephants. I wish I could have caught a picture of Lincolns face while watching those incredible creatures. He had a sweet grin plastered to his face the entire time. He giggled at the tricks the elephants did tricks like, head stands, and sitting up on hind legs.
We both had a lovely time and I believe this will become a yearly tradition for a mommy/Lincoln date.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sunday Blues

Let me start off by stating that I really love church. I am grateful for the gospel and the role it plays in my life. It makes me afraid when I think of my life without the truths of the gospel. I know I would have a lot of problems and be in a rough situation.

With that being said, I have to say that today I was ready to throw in the towel before sacrament meeting even started. It started this morning with getting ready. I know I don't really have room to complain, because I only have one child (a boy) to get ready for church, but it's really hard getting myself and Lincoln ready all alone. David always has meetings on Sunday mornings so he is not around to help. I am fully aware that there are moms out there who get 5 daughters with long hair ready every week for church all alone. The 5 daughters show up with their mom with perfect hair-dos and sit reverently on the bench for the entire 70 minutes of sacrament meeting. Thinking about those moms today is making me angry.
Why is it that I battle so much with my little 3 year old boy on Sundays? It's a power struggle every week.
It's a battle to get him ready for church. I allow him to choose books and a few toys to take to church to play reverently. However, when we get to church, he always wants the one toy or book that he chose to leave home and that sends him into a tail-spin.
My little boy is not reverent in church at all. We have tried and tried, but we don't know what to do. He talks the entire time, he gets angry when it's time to sing, he flops on the floor and kicks the benches. However, we can usually get Linc to sit with his arms folded for about 10 seconds while the sacrament is being passed to us. I guess that's a start.
During sacrament meeting, I can hear snickers and giggles of other adults around us thinking that we (David and I) are a pair of suckers. Sometimes during my wrestling match with Lincoln, I glance up at the bishopric only to find that they have snickers on their faces as well. They are thinking, "man...that kid knows how to work his parents." And it's true. He does.
After the 3 hours, I go to pick up Linc from Sunbeams. Lincoln's sunbeam teacher says that he is very loud and he will not sit in his seat. Basically, he's the naughtiest in the class (just what I needed to hear).
For some reason, I have noticed that I don't have as much patience on Sundays with Lincoln as I do on other days of the week. It could be because I know that people are watching me and critiquing my parenting skills. It could be that it's hard to wrestle a 3 year old in high heels, pantyhose and a dress while trying to remain lady-like. OR...It COULD be that the adversary is trying to get to me. He does not want me to go to church and feel the spirit. He does not want me to teach my little boy about the gospel and how to keep the commandments. He wants me to stay home and do anything BUT church on Sundays because that's how he can get a grip on me and my family.
Well, guess what?! I am going to keep dragging me and my little Sunbeam to church every week regardless of how bad I don't want to go and wrestle. Lincoln is going to learn the gospel and be a good boy who keeps the commandments. I am not going to let these Sunday blues get the best of me.
I will fight this battle, and I will WIN!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Christmas 2010

I really love Christmas time. I love what it means to me as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I always think of Mary and how afraid she must have been. I think of how inadequate she may have felt to have the responsibility of bearing the son of God. I think of Joseph and how he stood by Mary. They endured together and soon, the Son of God was born in a little stable. The savior of the world was born in very humble circumstances. Thinking about the story of the first Christmas brings a lot of emotion. I am grateful for what I know to be true. I am grateful for the birth of Jesus and for his life and sacrifice. What a blessing.

Our Christmas was full of joy. Lincoln is 3 and he really understood a lot about Christmas this year. He knows the story of the first Christmas. He knows about baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men and the Angel.
He also understands about Santa Clause. It was so much fun to watch him on Christmas morning. When he woke up that morning, I went into his room to get him out of bed. I told him that Santa came and I asked him if he wanted to see what Santa had brought for him. He replied with an enthusiastic "YES" and then asked if I would take off his diaper... :)
When we walked out to discover the gifts, he gasped and said, "That's so nice for Santa to give me presents."



We were able to have Michael at our house on Christmas morning because he is living with us while he finishes his student teaching in Hurricane. Santa even brought him a few things.


Lincoln was dying for Santa to bring him a spaceship. When he unwrapped the present containing the spaceship, he was so excited, he could barely talk. He started speaking very raspy and broken up and said, "It's...a.. SPACESHIP!"
Thanks Santa. The spaceship is a hit!

Lincoln also had a great time checking out the gifts in his stocking.

I love these Christmas morning moments...

David said we are going to start a new tradition. The PJ Elf can come on Christmas Eve, but we are also going to have the DUKE elf visit us every year with new DUKE shirts. :)



Later that day, we went to Parowan to celebrate Tori's and Dan's birthdays. It's fun to have so many things to celebrate on Christmas. It really helps the day last long and we really get to enjoy lots of time with each other.

Lexi loved her tu-tu from Corrin and her mom's new scarf.

After Tori's party, we opened more presents from Grandma and Grandpa Edwards.

Michael was in fine form. He wanted me to take head-shots for his Facebook profile (which does not exist). I think this one is a winner. Don't you?
Later that night, when the kids were in bed, we got out some new games. One, called Word on the Street is really fun. We played that for a while. We also played another one called, Would You Rather. I think the consensus was that we would rather not play Would You Rather. However, we laughed a lot.

Daniel and Corrin had to drink water out of cups like a dog.
Dan and Tori had to hold a pose that was positioned by Kathi and me for 2 rounds.

I slow danced with a mop.

We loved our Christmas holiday. Spending time with family is my favorite thing to do.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was filled with lots of food, lots of family, lots of laughs and lots of traveling.

We started the day in Parowan where we baked and got ready for the events of the evening and the next day. We hung out and listened to Christmas music. The kids played and we all had a great time.

Later that night, we headed to the Cecil's for dinner and games.





My nieces are so adorable.

Once dinner was wrapped up, we headed back to the Parowan house to settle down for the night and head our separate directions for the next day. Just before everyone got in their cars to head home, the doorbell rang! The kids ran to the door to see who was there. No one was there, but there were 16 presents sitting beautifully wrapped on the doorstep. I asked Lincoln who was there. He said, "It's PRESENTS!" The kids dragged the gifts inside. We looked at the tags and read that the presents were from the PJ Elf. Each of us opened our presents and pulled out the new Christmas pajamas for us to wear. It was so fun. Thanks PJ Elf!


My sisters-in-law are cute.

Tori and I are nerds...

Merry Christmas!