Anna and I were in the car. She asked me something, to which I replied. Then she asked, "Are you serious?" "Yes, I am, " I answered. "I'm talking to the garden!" she retorted. (?!)

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, 

When all the world is green?

Do you fish in a stream,

Or lazily dream on the banks 

As the clouds go by?

...Do you swim in a pool,

To keep yourself cool,

Or swing in a tree up high?

...Do you march in parades,

Or drink lemonades,

Or count all the stars in the sky?

Is that what you do?

So do I.

Dorothy S. Andersen (Children's Songbook, 245)

Liz: Wash those strawberries!

Sarah: It's just a little pesticide. Wouldn't hurt a fly...

Anna: I don't want any ice cream.

Sarah: Are you related to me?

In the spirit of self-preservation, sometimes Lane and I say endearing things to our children, such as Lane the other night: "I'm trying to have a peaceful moment hear. Hit the road."

Oh! what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays:

Whether we look, or whether we listen,

We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.

Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,

We are happy now because God wills it.

No matter how barren the past may have been,

'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green.

-James Russell Lowell

To me and Lane, after we got home from our trip: "I'm so glad you came home, guys...'cause I really missed you."

Anna is working really hard on manners. "Can I have some lunch may please?" The syntax isn't there, but the feeling is.

Here's a sticky note Lane found today on the bottom of his shoe, in an unnamed handwriting: "Tornado hit. DO NOT Come in!!!! Enless [sic] Your name is liz or lane." I just wasn't sure if it was meant for my bedroom or hers....

Temper tantrums are not cute even in children; they are despicable in adults, especially adults who are supposed to love each other. We are too easily provoked; we are too inclined to think that our partner meant to hurt us--meant to do us evil, so to speak; and in defensive or jealous response we too often rejoice when we see them make a mistake and find them in a fault. Let's show some discipline on this one. Act a little more maturely. Bite your tongue if you have to. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Proverbs 16:32). At least one difference between a tolerable marriage and a great one may be that willingness in the latter to allow some things to pass without comment, without response.

Jeffrey R. Holland, "How Do I Love Thee?" 

What you create doesn't have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don't let the fear of failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you--whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage"

At 6:14 pm, when the kitchen is totally quiet, the table not set, and I'm on the couch typing, Peter asked me cheerfully, "Mom, did we already have dinner?" Guess that's a good hint. OK, time to get up off the couch...

Anna brought me a cup of water. "I'm the water server," she said. I took a sip. "It's not from the toilet," she continued,after I swallowed.

When invited to go to bed, Sarah commented quietly, "As far as I'm concerned, sleeping is just a waste of time, except for in the morning."

Julia came in from playing outside with the boys to watch a movie with us. After a minute Peter burst in: "Julia! It's 'prepare for battle'. Aren't you coming?" Julia, hesitating momentarily as she deliberated, gave way and headed back out into the fray. Moments later, we heard the conch shell sound. The battle must have begun!

"So is a jicama kind of like a Spanish version of a potato?" Sarah, making me a special salad for Mother's Day, and cutting up jicama for it.

"When you die, are you gonna leave the car at home? 'Cause I really want Dad's car." Peter, reflections on growing up. (And totally out of the blue. Love how they think ahead.) 

"I'm just really happy!" Anna, joyfully, while munching on a carrot in the car and going shopping with Mom.

"If silence is golden, talking is platinum." Nate, our avid conversationalist, during our car trip over Easter break.

(Climbing into the car, Anna in the second row, and Sarah in the front) "There's enough spot for you by me, Sarah." Sarah obligingly got out and went to the seat next to Anna. What a sweetheart.

"YOU said I could go play [after dinner]!" Peter argued as he walked in the door. "No, Peter, I did not," I countered calmly. "How do YOU know?" he demanded.

"Hey! Look at this!" I said, scrolling down to show a photo from a blog. "Yeah, yeah, it's all WORDS!" (Peter) 

Anna came downstairs with her shirt on and a pair of tights on backwards, the rear stretched down to her knee caps. Peter took note and said, in a parenting voice, to Anna, "If you want to play with friends, you have to get clothes on." 

The mere stuffing of the mind with a knowledge of facts is not education. The mind must not only possess a knowledge of truth, but the soul must revere it, cherish it, love it as a priceless gem; and this human life must be guided and shaped by it in order to fulfil its destiny. The mind should not only be charged with intelligence, but the soul should be filled with admiration and desire for pure intelligence which comes of a knowledge of the truth. The truth can only make him free who hath it, and will continue in it. And the word of God is truth, and it will endure forever.

Educate yourself not only for time, but also for eternity.

Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine (269).

"Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid." John Wayne

(Nathan's favorite quote from a John Wayne movie)

Julia was drinking a Hansen's Cream Soda. "It says there's no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, or flavors. What isthere?"

Anna arrived on the beach, her toes covered in sand. "Where is the sandbox?" she asked.

Nate dumped some "American Cheese Powder" sprinkle onto his pasta at lunch today. "You're going to be so sick!" Sarah said. "What?" I intruded. Sarah: "That expired the year Nathan was born!"

To respond in a Christlike way cannot be scripted or based on a formula. The Savior responded differently in every situation. When He was confronted by wicked King Herod, He remained silent. When He stood before Pilate, He bore a simple and powerful testimony of His divinity and purpose. Facing the moneychangers who were defiling the temple, He exercised His divine responsibility to preserve and protect that which was sacred. Lifted up upon a cross, He uttered the incomparable Christian response: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Elder Robert D. Hales, "Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship," Ensign, November 2008

"Little Bo Peep lost his sheep." (What I found while correcting a child's homework. Guess we've got a little mix up going on with Bo and Little Boy Blue. Yo, Bo!)

Anna climbed into bed with us this Saturday. Amidst tickles and giggles, Lane said, "I have breath that could kill a horse!" Anna chirped in, "I have breath that could ride a horse!"

"Wait! Does a helicopter drop the newspaper? How does it get there?!" Peter, on seeing the newspaper in the middle of the driveway.

"You didn't give me any breakfast yesterday, but you gave me my vitamin, so I sucked on it until lunchtime." Julia

"I'm going to save this doughnut for next year." Anna, on leaving part of a doughnut (that she started last night) on her breakfast plate.

"Smile, Darn You, Smile"

If you can smile when things go wrong

And say it doesn't matter,

If you can laugh off cares and woe

And trouble makes you fatter,

If you can keep a cheerful face

When all around are blue,

Then have your head examined, bud,

There's something wrong with you.

For one thing I've arrived at:

There are no ands and buts,

A guy that's grinning all the time

Must be completely nuts.

Quoted by BYU President Jeffrey R. Holland, in "The Will of the Father in All Things," 17 Jan 1989.

Nate, after answering a (teeth-whitening solicitation) phone call, said, "This is actually not Liz." After, Nate described his accent as "Japanese-Italian." As the solicitor went on and on, I told Nate that this was one time he has my permission to interrupt.

I just went in to wake Anna up for a nap. (She had gone down late, and I had forgotten until it was dinner time!) When she'd climbed into bed, she had placed a piece of play cake on a plastic plate on Sarah's bedside table. So when I woke her up, I picked her up as well as the play food. "That's Sarah's cake," she informed me politely, "but you can have it." 

Mother's Jewels

Aunt Eleanor wears such diamonds!

Shiny and gay and grand,

Some on her neck and some in her hair,

And some on her pretty hand.

One day I asked my mama

Why she never wore them, too;

She laughed and said, as she kissed my eyes,

"My jewels are here, bright blue.

They laugh and dance and beam and smile,

So lovely all the day,

And never like Aunt Eleanor's go

In a velvet box to stay.

Hers are prisoned in bands of gold,

But mine are free as air,

Set in a bonny, dimpled face,

And shadowed with shining hair!"

Eugene Field

Anna, while eating her toast, commented off-hand, "I want lots of family." Intrigued at her perspective, I asked her what she meant. (After all, I thought we were definitely toward that end.) "Lots and lots and lots." Well, I bet we'll be there...in about 100 years.

I was tucking Anna to bed, when she pointed to her cheek and said, "You can kiss me here." "Thank you," I responded, with a kiss. "You're welcome. You can kiss me there always," she granted.

This is our one and only chance at mortal life--here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey--now.

President Thomas S. Monson, "Finding Joy in the Journey"

Anna's cute words

1. shish (fish)

2. hooj (huge)

3. wellow (yellow) 

4. hairplane

5. hairport

6. chicken head

7. smarshmellows (Peter's word)

8. Sall (Fall)

9. doos (goose)

10. Livbuth (Elizabeth)

11. sweet! (as in "cool")

12. picy! (spicy, as in Grandma's soup)

13. itmeal (oatmeal)

'O dreary life,' we cry, 'O dreary life!'

And still the generations of the birds

Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds

Serenely live while we are keeping strife

With Heaven's true purpose in us...

O thou God of old,

Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these!--

But so much patience as a blade of grass

Grows by, contented through the heat and cold.

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning ("Patience Taught by Nature")

Julia was making salt and flour playdough. Peter came onto the scene. 

P: (Incredulously) "How did you make that stuff?"

J: (Matter-of-factly) I followed the recipe.

Julia, looking at her lump of playdough on the breadboard:

"This stuff looks like [insulation]!"

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's 

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints, --I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life! --and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnet XLIII, Sonnets from the Portuguese)

"Grandma has this sweetness awesome spoon!" (Peter, with his ultra-enthusiastic, you-won't-believe-it voice. Who knew you could be so excited about a spoon?)

"Jiminy Crickets! It's warmer turning off the shower!" (Lane, on getting out of the shower on a Sunday morning when 4 people had showered right before him)

"It's always other people's birthdays and not mine!" (Peter, around Nate's recent birthday)

"I call Dad the "Big Thinker" 'cause he's so good at thinking!"(Peter)

When I'm a mom, I'm going to make dessert for ALL the people[Insert here=children. Too bad you don't live at Aunt Becca's.] And I'm going to drive a Cinderella car with my two little children in the back. (Anna)

A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle, we shall remain undaunted.

In the meantime, I...would like to say to you: "I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.'"

King George VI, December 25, 1939 (This link is to the audio clip of the original speech. For the transcript, go here.)

Rebecca wears glasses, Julia does, too.

Mommy is lovely, Sarah is, too.

We all love each other and so you see,

Everybody gets a kiss from me!

(Eliza's version of the song, "We are a happy family"

(December 29) "Mom, When is it going to be Christmas? I wish it were Christmas everyday!" -Peter

(From her cell phone, in the garage) "Hey. Mom. It's really cold out here in the car. Could you stop blogging and come out here?"--Sarah

(Lane, Jan.3, upon finding out that I had made lunch for myself and the children, but none was left for him:) "That's O.K. I know how to fend for myself." (Note: Thank GOODNESS.)

(Peter, Jan.4, at dinner, with a large piece of ham in his mouth) "I'm having fun with ham."

(Anna, Jan.4, while I'm typing) "I'm really busy coloring!"

(Peter, sitting next to me on the couch, Jan. 5) "Mom, you have a flower on your ear!" 

"It's an earring, Pete."

"Wow...Coool."

Ah friends, dear friends,
As years go on and heads get gray,
How fast the guests do go!
Touch hands, touch hands,
With those that stay.
Strong hands to weak,
Old hands to young, around the
Christmas board touch hands.
The false forget, the foe forgive,
For every guest will go
And every fire burn low
And cabin empty stand.
Forget, forgive,
For who may say that Christmas day
May ever come to host or guest again.
Touch hands!
~ William Henry Harrison Murray

Mom, do you want to play "Google" with me? (She meant "Boggle.")--Eliza

Rebecca was hanging the "Mistletoe Testing Done Here" sign over the door and told me, "You make sure you kiss Daddy under here."

Pardoning any irreverance, we chuckled at the local versions of Christmas songs Peter and Anna unknowingly invented:

"Oh, tiny bum..." (Peter singing to "O Tannenbaum" with Mannheim Steamroller. He laughed his head off when we told him what the words really were.)

"Glory to God in the haunted house" (Anna, after church, where we had sung, "Angels We Have Heard on High")

(After coming back from the mall with packages in her hands) "I just love this 'shopdrenalin!' "  --Sarah

I think she just coined a new word! (November 2008)

Remember that soothing, calming effect of reading the scriptures. Next time you are where they are read, notice how things settle down. Sense the feeling of peace and security that comes.

Boyd K. Packer

"OK, who even made up fruitcake?!"  --Sarah

The more I exercise self-control, the better I feel.

Lane

There seems to be a superstition among thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a pertually young and ravising wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear the divorce courts are jammed.... Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed.

Jenkins Lloyd Jones
“Big Rock Candy Mountains”
Deseret News, June 12, 1973, A4

Quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley, "What God Hath Joined Together," Ensign, May 1991 and "A Conversation with Single Adults," Liahona, November 1997.

Children's quotes

Sarah and I were discussing dinner. "You could do whole wheat spaghetti," I suggested. Her response: "And I could die."

Anna couldn't find Peter. "Where'd my best buddy go?"

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family.... What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and for her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

M. Russell Ballard

Grace shall be as your day.

William Clayton

Be kind to yourself.

Marion Wright, mother of 12, one of the kindest women I know

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Things will work out.

President Gordon B. Hinckley