New feature

We have added a new feature to the blog. Well, really we have added another blog. See, the downside of this whole private blog thing is that there is no way to "subscribe" to the blog through google reader or other news aggregators. Though really, who uses an different RSS feed reader?! (Was that comment too nerdy? Probably.)

So if you want to subscribe to our blog, subscribe to singlepotnotifier.blogspot.com. We'll post a link there when we have a new post here. So you don't have to miss one. It is our gift to you.

My kind of paradise...

When Amy I were first married we were fortunate to get to go on a family vacation to Hawaii. It was a so much fun. The days consisted mostly (entirely) of sitting on the beach and reading. I think I read 8 books in 5 days. It was paradise. I had never been there before, and I was astonished as we drove around  the island at how beautiful and amazing it was. The vistas were so spectacular they were almost unreal. It was like living in a postcard.

A couple of weeks ago Amy and I went with her family to stay in a beach house in Arch Cape, Oregon on the Oregon coast. It was that same kind of beautiful. The beach was enormous and gray and surrounded by pine trees wrapped in mist. (Much like my bald head.)

It was gorgeous. Not in the same way that Hawaii was, but in a much more me sort of way. I'm sure you haven't noticed, but I'm not really a beach body guy. So a cold, windy, gray beach is much more my style. 

Because Oregon is the most beautiful place on earth, this was the path that you followed from our beach house to the beach.

Really? Isn't it charming?

We spent a lot of time sitting around the beach house playing games, and a lot of time eating the best sugar cookies on earth from a little bakery we discovered, and a lot of time playing on the beach. The beach was beautiful and horrifying. The waves would be at your ankles one second and at your waist the next. So we spent a lot of time trying to keep the kids alive. 

Lila was in heaven. As soon as you let her go, she would run towards the ocean until you plucked her out of the ocean. 

Jonah liked the beach because it allowed him to start a new "nature collection." He likes to do that when we are out and about. This nature collection was of some weird snot looking things that were all over the beach. Really, what the heck is that thing? He had a whole big handful of them. It was charming/disgusting.

Amy and I decided that we officially are retiring here. See those little white and brown houses on the ocean? We want to buy one and live out our old age there. Actually, I want to buy a house a few miles north, right next to that bakery. For reals, they had these pecan praline cookies that made me see the face of Heaven. 

Noel, surprisingly, liked it too. Usually at the beach he spends most of the time complaining about the sand, and the water, and the wind, and the air, and the light and the everything that isn't a Wii. But he really got into it.

Check out my killer photog skills. I call this one "Reflections of a Yellow Bucket."

It was fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles. Amy was amazing and planned the whole thing, including planning and prepping all the meals. It ruled. Nothing like just showing up for vacation with everything planned. She is truly the greatest. See more photos here. 

It was the perfect 4 days. And the best part is, the bakery is only like 10 minutes from one of my stores. Next time I am there I think I need to stop and get some of their Tillamook Cheese biscuits. Hold me. 

Blessed

Every once in a while, someone comes along who has such an inspired, righteous, warm presence that I think that, even if I didn't have a solid testimony of the gospel, I would know it was true, simply based upon knowing this person. President Hinckley was one of these people. Another one is President Dalton, our stake president. Every month, the members of our stake are able to listen to him speak, at monthly firesides based upon different topics pertaining to the family. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to play the organ for the opening and closing hymns at this fireside. This was the first one I was able to attend, due to a nursing baby and general laziness on my part. The topic was Teaching Your Children. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

It would be difficult to list the many things that I learned during this hour. One of the biggest points I took away was this: Are we living and modeling for our children the way we want them to live? This means being a good example, modeling integrity, work, honesty, service, respect for others and accountability. Sure, we go to church. We say our prayers at mealtime, and we probably try to do our weekly FHE even when, if you're like our family, it often ends in utter failure. But do we really model the behavior that we expect from them? As Pres. Dalton pointed out, how often do we say, "Listen to me!" when we never stop to listen to them. How often do we speak out in anger when we're trying to get them to calm down? How often do we demand their love and respect, when our actions are not demonstrating our love and respect for them?

To say I struggle with these things is a gross understatement. How to raise my children in righteousness and teach them to love and respect others consumes most of my waking thoughts. There's so much to do, and so much that I do poorly, or don't do at all. So this week I decided I'd focus on three of Pres. Dalton's bullet-points: 1) Teach them the gospel. 2) Teach your children to love and serve one another. and 3) Teach children obedience. Seriously. If I could successfully do this, I can't even tell you what a difference this would make. But I think I'm realistic enough to know this will be a life-long challenge. And you just have to have a go at it and hope for the best.

Serving and loving one another. This has to be the key, right? So every day this week, we chose a popsicle stick out of a cup with another family member's name. And that is the person they would serve that day. They would need to think of kind things to say or do for that person the entire day.

Here were some first week hiccups:

1) They don't get it. Kind of a big hiccup, right? But I have to tell myself that even if 1% seeps in, slowly they'll understand. For instance, the first day Jonah had Josh's name. So he decided he'd play some board games with Josh. Cause Josh LOVES board games! We had a discussion about how, the next day, he should try to think of something the other person would enjoy, not something that HE would enjoy. The next day, he had my name. He thought maybe we could play some board games together. Doesn't. get. it.

2) It's hard to serve your kids when you're the mom. You're serving them all day long. I'm deciding the key must be to point it out more often. "Noel. I have your name today. So I'm helping you pick up your toys!" (even though I do it every single day).

3) When Lila gets your name, too bad for you.

4) Consistency is key. I'm the worst at this. Some days it just feels like we draw out the popsicle stick and go about our regular day. I'm not sure I have the pep in me to keep it going. Suggestions?

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a sermon. It's just a reminder to me that I need to work on this all of the time. And I'll let you know how the popsicle sticks go. Today I have Lila and she has me. I'll just point out to her that I'm doing her a service when I change her poopy pants.

In the meantime, here are some photos from a family photo shoot at the Wahkeena Falls. Here are some details from the shoot: 1) Lila, the smiliest baby in America, would not smile. 2) Noel lasted for about 2 photos, and then complained the rest of the time. And also ran around the falls not paying attention and giving me a heart attack every time he appeared to be falling off of the rocky terrain. 3) Wendy from Blue Lily Photography is a miracle worker. The fact that we had any salvageable photos, let alone several truly beautiful ones, means maybe we need to stop going to that crappy Portrait Innovations and fork out the bucks for a pro.

The Week

A Good Week For. . .
An Obssessive-Compulsive Mother's Heart. When it was discovered that her six year old son could make this:

look like this. . .

. . .within 15 minutes, without supervision. Not 'cause he wanted to (he was being punished), but it's nice to know that he's been trained well. Here's hoping he'll make a career as one of those professional organizers on Hoarders. Blech!!

Self-Esteem. To think that this:

came from Josh and I, you figure you must be a little cuter than you thought you were.

S.O.S. Pads. (Or a bad week for them, depending on how you think S.O.S. pads garner their self-worth) Since ALL of the elements on my new stovetop are dishwasher safe. Hurrah! It almost makes up for the fact that I have a black stovetop. I said almost.


Hoarders. (In case it isn't abundantly clear, I'm obssessed with Hoarders) While at McDonald's today, I looked at Lila's Madame Alexander doll toy and thought, "Do you think there are people who actually collect these?" when, not five seconds later, a woman (who looks just as you'd imagine) shows her mother the TWO sets of dolls she'd bought to complete her collection. Of McDonald's toys. Those people are weird. And probably rich off of E-bay.

Self-Preservation. I went to a movie by myself last night and, as I sat in the dark movie theater, eating my huge box of candy, I became a little less of the giant frazzled mess that I was when I left home. And I even went home after the movie, rather than check into the motel for three days as I'd threatened. Thanks, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, for a kinda weird, semi-amusing movie. Let's be honest: most of the thanks goes to the candy.

A Bad Week For. . .
Clean Clothes. Lila has given up on the highchair. Since it's much easier to feed herself at the table, where her food is at nose level.

Blockbuster.

The Binghams finally joined Netflix. We've never been movie people, so we didn't really see the need. But now we get the hype. Those geniuses at Netflix and their instant streaming! All this for $9 a month? I easily pay $9 a month in overdue fees at Redbox. As much fun as it's been, waiting in line for Redbox along with the people without teeth, I'm gonna have to say Adios!