FALL CONFERENCE 2006

Fall Conference, 2006:

It seems like every conference session I have a Seth or Hannah story and this one is no exception....Just as a refresher course there was the Conference when Hannah was barely three. After sitting there for awhile she mumbled angrily, under her breath but loud enough for us to hear....."I hate this movie!"

Then there was the year when they were barefly four that Seth asked after every speaker got up..."Is he dead yet?" "What about him, he's so old, is he dead yet?".

Here is this year when they are barely 5....

For primary Hannah and Seth were asked to listen to the speakers and “take note” of something that a speaker said to do so that they could use this saying for their primary program part. On Saturday I told the twins that they had to sit down and listen to President Hinckley, but that the rest of the day they could just listen on the intercom while they played inside. They did as I asked but then disappeared. I saw Seth occasionally, playing and trying to sneak outdoors with friends who kept coming to the door. I did not see Hannah and assumed she was playing in her room. Finally, towards the end of conference Katie found her in the office. Jim had turned the computers on to conference and she was sitting intently at the desk, looking at the monitor, and “taking notes” about conference. Before her were pages and pages of hand-written “cursive notes” that only she could read…It was so precious! There is a little saint hiding in that little spitfire after all.

SISTER LUNCH OR HELL?

many of you witnessed the two hour tantrum today....about an hour and a half of it took place during sister lunch..... It started with me getting mad at the twins....we were right ready to walk out the door, ON TIME no less, and they decided to pour out two boxes of cereal and lick it off the counter and kind of roll around in it. They were sticky and flaky and crumby and I, of course, being the unpatient mother that I am...lost it and screamed a bit and dragged them into the bathroom to wash their faces, change shirts, etc. Needless to say I was not happy...they are way too old to be doing stuff like that....and i had just given them a bath. Anywho, Hannah did not take kindly to getting in trouble. She pouted and ranted and raved all the way to Macaroni Grill...Here's a little bit of the dialogue: "Seth it's your FAULT! I don't like you! I only like two people in this whole town! Cheyanne and JayCee (Seth's girlfriend) and I am telling Jaycee to break up with you! (Seth...my emotional one who takes everything to seriously is crying at this point, "Hannah please NO, please love me again...and I still love Jaycee- don't make me break up!...wah wah wha) Hannah: "And I am not on Jesus' side!" (okay, I just read Mandi's blog about her sweet children sending a prayer up to heaven - mine are always blasphemous!). I didn't know what to say so I blurted out "Well, if you're not on Jesus' side then you will go to ...a very bad place!" Hannah says, serious as ever: "You mean sister lunch?" So there you have it. You men can gloat all you want---Sister lunch has now been likened unto HELL. The tantrum carried on forever, I won't bore you all with details. Alicia tried all her child psychology tricks to no avail. She then said something that made me feel so much better as Hannah escaped her clutches in the parking lot and came within feet of entering State Street...."She's the most difficult child I have ever dealt with and I work with special needs kids!" Okay, Im scared. The funny thing is, she is such an easy kid. Just something will set her off and she will have one of these tantrums. She only has about 3-4 a year so we are still sane. Then when she decides she is done then it is over. She then went to her well child check-up and insisted on watching the needles go into her legs with just a little jump and a peep with each one. Seth, on the other hand, had to have 3 of us holding him down and was screaming like a banshee and flailing about like a 50 lb. salmon. What a day. I think I was in hell today, especially at sister lunch! And no, I never found my dang free kids meal vouchers! Oh boy, don't get me started again.

NATIONAL PARKS.....

Just a brief synopsis of our trip because I really should be earning a living while typing at this computer and earning my mere 8 cents a line.....

We had a great time. As soon as I can figure out how I will post some pictures. Someone come over and do it for me, K? Hannah and Seth learned so much. Seth loved seeing the Buffalo, that was the highlight of his trip. Unfortunately he had a bitter resentment that he made known towards the indians because he learned that the indians used to run the buffalo off of cliffs to kill them for food. This upset him greatly. He has a stuffed buffalo that he sleeps with and says it is his favorite animal. Hannah learned the names of the presidents on Mount Rushmore and they were both so cute and excited about everything.

However.......we pushed our luck. By the time we got to Yellowstone Hannah was apparently done. On the first day she got a mild case of heat exhaustion and that was kind of scary. Note to all parents...Hats always in 100 deg. weather on blonde children in National Parks. By Day 2 of Yellowstone we went on a little hike to see some hot pots. The others went ahead and I was with Hannah, lagging behind. All of a sudden she started into one of her tirades. Many of you have glimpsed Hannah's tirades and this was a doozy. I memorized as much as I was able this classic rendition and goes like this....."I HATE NATIONAL PARKS!- I HATE YELLOWSTONE! I AM SICK OF ALL OF THESE BURNT TREES! I FORGOT WHAT MY ROOM LOOKS LIKE! I HATE DRIVING AROUND LOOKING FOR ANIMALS! I HATE STINKY HOT POTS! I HATE NATIONAL PARKS (repeat verse 1 and chorus) I HATE HIKING" Here I intervened and reminded her that she has always asked to go hiking with Daddy and that she likes hiking....Without missing a beat she said "THIS IS NOT REAL HIKING - THIS IS FAKE HIKING! I HATE FAKE HIKING, I HATE YELLOWSTONE (repeat of chorus). At some point you will have the privelige of seeing another Hannah moment on Day 2 of Yellowstone - - the Mother of All Tantrums that occured right on the main pavement, admist 100's of onlookers right in front of Old Faithful. I have not seen the clip yet but I know it is short because people really gave me weird looks to be filming my daughter's tantrum instead of stopping it. (Obviously they don't know Hannah. There is not a blasted thing you can do until she is finished.) You shall see it either on my blog or as a part of Ryan's weekly videos if it makes the cut.....Happy Camping to all....P.S. I found out Aunt Gretchen dislikes Yellowstone as well....We should debate this one day....

It's Lonely at the Top.....

This is President Rogers speaking. (hee hee) What does one do in Sharing Time when their children must be picked each week? About 3/4 way through my sharing time I noticed Seth quietly sobbing. I called on him to take a part in the game. What I did not notice by the time it was over was Hannah sobbing. I took her away from her class and held her in the back of the room and tried to explain. Of course the added attention made her sobs louder and louder. I explained that I could not choose her and Seth every week and because since I am the Primary President then I have to give all of the little children a chance. She immediately started sobbing in her not so quiet way "I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE THE PRIMARY PRESIDENT!" (repeat, sob sob, repeat louder, sob sob sob, louder, etc., etc.) "I just want you to be my mom." That of course broke my heart. I wanted to say "Me too Hannah". Any advice on this to any of you out there who have had this same experience? I am nervous for next week. I can't really call my own kids everytime but.....

Liken This!

On Sunday we decided to have a little family time and watch a movie together. We decided to use that Comcast thing we pay for each month....On Demand. We checked out the movies and saw you can rent the Liken the Scriptures movies and there was one on Nephi in the Wilderness. Since it was Sunday we thought that was a grand idea. We rented it then curled up, prepared to be enlightened! Right away alarm bells went off...MUSICAL MUSICAL MUSICAL. Now you will only understand this if you are a Moore reading this. For some odd reason we all (I think it is all of us - speak up if you disagree or are adopted and don't know it) squirm and get totally uncomfortable with musicals. We sweat, look the other way, and get an unpleasant feeling in our stomach. That is why we don't get season tickets to Hale Theatre. Not worth the risk. We pick and choose our plays, thank you very much. Well about the time Nephi and "the brothers" started "Rockin in the Wilderness" and doing an impression of the Back Street Boys, Jim and I were really freaked (Jim has been in the family long enough that he too appears to have this reaction to musicals). The problem is, our twins were enthralled (proof of adoption). Of course for their sake (and the fact that we paid 99 cents for this puppy) we had to stick it out. We gave each other looks of encouragement and watched the clock, waiting for the 45 minutes to be over (thankful that we did not choose the 62 minute one on David and Goliath). Finally it was over and we were able to sigh a sign of relief. The twins started gabbing and about the movie and we realized it was really worth it because they twins actually got something out of it. Hannah said: "Layden" (sorry Lisa, not an intentional rhyme) was a really, really bad man, huh mom. He had all that stuff and would not give their brass plates back and THEY HAD NOTHING TO EAT ON MOM! So, maybe we will hold hands and grin and bear David and Goliath in a month or two. Who know what the twins will get out of that one?

Poor Zach and Hannah

Hannah said the other day (with disgust): Zach, me and you are the only ones in this family who don't have a Razor! (phone, that is).

Morning Musing w/ Seth

Mom, look at this snake that is painted on my arm. (face painting at scout activity prior night). This makes me popular Mom. Me: What does popular mean Seth? Seth: It means you dance around and have fun all the time. I learned that from t.v. okay.... Seth.....Mom....me and Ashby are really sad for Kyle that he does not have a sister! I think Amy needs to have another baby and it will be a girl and they should name her Gladys. Mom, did you know that Glady's spirit went up to heaven??? Mom (upon seeing my Redbook and Ladies Home Journal on the nightstand), why do you have so many comic books? Did you take all of these from the hospital?

Do you speak Idaho?

I think I already told everyone this, but I need to write it down for posterity. When we went to Bear Lake Hannah got really sunburned (4 kids, same sunscreen, same reapply schedule - my boys didn't get a speck of burn and my girls got fried....weird) Anywho, we decided rather than go to the lake again we decided to take the twins and drive up through Montpilier, etc. The twins were engrossed in a movie most of the trip up. When they decided to surface we were in some little Idaho town, crossing a bridge over some old railroad cars lying about in a railroad yard.... Here's how it went:

Hannah: Look Dad, motor homes!
Seth: Where are we?
Mom: We're in Idaho!
Seth: I don't like this place. I don't like Idaho. Everything is really scary here! I want to go home!!!
Seth: Are there people in Idaho?
Hannah: (in a stressed, almost crying voice) "But we don't speak Idaho!!"

We tried not to laugh out loud. Jim told them to stay close and let him do the talking in the gas station.

Stick falls out of popsicle---no problem!

Yesterday I gave the twins a "Cool Classics" popsicle---the perfectly round reddish orange ones. I was in the kitchen when Seth came running into the house, with his popsicle dripping. The stick had apparently fallen out. Before I had a chance to curse because of the drips, I decided to watch and wait. It was worth it. He ran straight to the pantry, grabbed a hot dog bun out of the package, placed the popsicle in it, then proceeded to eat it like a hot dog. He went outside and I watched as he ate the whole thing. Was that good I asked later? Yeah!!! he says. Quite the little improvisor. I fully expected a classic Seth freak out over the stick. Maybe we are making progress.

For the Love.....

I took Seth for a little one one one time yesterday. He got a sportin new haircut and then a whole 10 minutes at the Arctic Circle playplace. (I have 4 kids okay, give me a break). He played for a minute then came down to eat and said "Mom, those boys up there are fighting over the love of a girl." (I'm trying not to crack up. Those were his exact words). He eats for a while and then says: " Mom, I think maybe I need to fight for the love of Jaycee. There are other boys at preschool who like her too".

Morning Musing With Seth

It's been awhile since I had this opportunity. Unfortunately, he was up too damn early for me to fully enjoy....here is what I picked up....Mom, Mom, Mom, I had FIVE bad dreams last night. (I can attest to that--the screaming in the night is the reason I got no sleep) The first one...(he is starting into this phase that all parents love...the one where they make it up as the go along and it can take hours!!!) Seth: The first one was about that I was at church and I was the only HUMAN!- everyone else was MONSTERS! (sounds like my friend Linda's new ward) Me: Seth, monsters don't go to church....Seth: Mom, its only a dream. (ok, I have been put in my place) Seth and then and then and then and I killed him (me: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and then I cut his head off and fought him and then and then (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and then I cut off all of their willies and put them on sticks and threw them onto the train tracks (sorry all of you men....try not to envision - this one did wake me up though) more violence, sing, sing, something something zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Hannah joins us: Were they yellow and pink Seth? (not the willies...we're on to something else here....I'm not sure what.)Seth: THEY'RE BLIND, HANNAH, THEY'RE BLIND I SAID THEY WERE BLIND!" Hannah: okay. Me: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I look at the clock. 30 minutes has now passed! Seth: Okay, Mom, that was my first one. Now here is the next dream....

LETS TALK ABOUT PEANUTS

When Seth was a little guy Jim thought it best to teach him the proper terminology for body parts. Lucky for us, Seth's little mind comprehended "Peanut" and I insisted that we stick with it! Well one day when Seth was just 2 1/2 or so he took off out the front door and got on his big wheel and headed out with a purpose...."Where are you going Seth?" "I'm goin' to the peanut store to get Hannah a peanut because she doesn't have one!!"
X-RATED:
Last week on our trip to San Diego an asian flight attendant was announcing over the intercom that they would be coming by with drinks. He then said "If you would like something with your drink, like a cookie, pretzel or PEANUS then we will give it to you. So, if you want some "PEANUS, just let us know and we will give you some "PEANUS". By this time there was lots of tittering and hands covering mouths in an effort to remain serious. He said it over and over!!! Incidentally, I thought someone said that they could no longer serve peanuts on the airlines because of allergies. I did not want to take any chances on what I was getting so I stuck with the cookie....

One more for Jim

Mom, maybe Dad could just borrow a gun from an army guy and go and shoot an elk so we could have it hanging in our family room. (sure Seth, no problem).

I wish Dad.....

Here's another poor Jim post. Mom, maybe when Dad grows up again he can be a race car driver! Incidentally, we did take Seth and Hannah to see Jim's work for the first time. I was hoping this would help....however, it is just a big building and you can't go in for security...so they looked at the big building then resumed their movie....

Learning Violence in Preschool

Seth and Hannah just graduated from preschool this week. Mom and I had a treat as we laughed hysterically as Hannah tried to keep her graduation cap, hair, and bow all together while singing songs in a program.....I sure wish I had it on digital video so you could all see it. It was so funny. Anyway, they were talking about funny things the kids had said in preschool and I remembered one that Hannah had said a while back. I came to pick her up and she said so excited.... "Mom!, Mom! We did parent shooting today we learned parent shooting!!!" The preschool teacher had a horrifed look on her face as she stared at me and Hannah. It took me only moments of realization before it dawned on me...."Did you by chance play with a parachute today?" "Oh yes", the preschool teacher sighs with relief. I thought it was hilarious. The teacher did not. I reminded her about it after the program and joked about why they didn't share that one in the program...She says with a nervous laugh...well, there are some things we just can't...."oh brother....lighten up teacher!

Seth talking to Hannah,,,

But Hannah, Jesus wanted me to have a big head so that is why my head is so big.