Merry Christmas!

Lincoln zoomed in to gaze at his gifts this morning and spotted his new bike. He excitedly proclaimed his approval of it. He said "wow!  It looks so cool!  I like the stylish colors, but not girly stylish.... Cool stylish."

Last night I was cuddling Lincoln. When it was time for him to go to sleep he said, "please don't go."  I told him that I needed to go so that he could go to sleep. He then said, "but you're the best mom in the world and when you go I get lonely. I just want the best mom ever by me all the time."  I know he was working me, but it still melted my heart so I stayed another 10 minutes. He won. 

This morning while driving to school Lincoln and I witnessed a beautiful sunrise. The sun was peeking out from behind a big bunch of clouds. It was really beautiful. Lincoln said, "Mom, look! It's a miracle. It looks like that's the entrance to heaven."

Yesterday we were brought some christmas goodies from a friend. We heard a knock at the door and Lincoln ran to answer. I was in the kitchen and I heard him speaking with the person at the door. The next thing I heard was Lincoln shout the words, "Merry Christmas to all!"  It was so cute. 

Lincoln gave the lesson at Family Home Evening tonight. He explained that faith is like building a house. The first layer is like the cement. The next layer is the wood. Next comes the roof. Then you have the bricks and stucco. Last, you have food. Ha!  Smart kid!  After that he told us the story from the Book of Mormon about Captain Moroni and Zarahemna.  He did a great job!  He also made dinner tonight. Mac and Cheese!  Yum!

Now That it's the End of June, How About we Look at Lincoln's Birthday?

Lincoln had a great 7th birthday.  We celebrated with a few of his friends.  We went to Laser Mania and had a great time playing laser tag and arcade games.

On April 8th we had another celebration!  Lincoln woke up to birthday pancakes which is our tradition.  Next, Lincoln was excited to see some gifts waiting for him to open.  He was so excited about a lot of the items he had his eye on.  He even got a hamster!  After opening presents we headed to school.

The science fair happened to be on Lincoln's birthday.  He did a great project about balloons.  It was awesome!  After he presented his project to his class, they did their special birthday celebration where they circle around the birthday boy and sing happy birthday.  Then he gets to blow on them like they are candles.  Then Mrs. Spainhower has a kissing frog that gives the birthday child kisses.  It was so sweet.

It was a great day!  Happy 7th birthday, Lincoln!

One of Lincoln's new hobbies is to write and illustrate comic books.  He loves to make comics about one of his favorite characters, Captain Underpants.  His comics are filled with adventure and creativity.  Today while making his comic he said, "I am drawing a fancy restaurant called Burgers and Fries.  The only thing they serve is burgers and fries, so yeah... it's pretty fancy."  I LOVE his imagination.
Lincoln requested that I write this, "Tippy was a bad guy and broke into the restaurant ceiling."  See what I mean about his imagination?

Another of Lincoln's teachers came to me to tell me a story.  Lincoln had a stuffy nose and he went over to get a tissue in his classroom.  An aide asked him if he had a cold.  Lincoln replied and said, "No.  I'm not sick.  My nose just isn't working properly."  Funny!

The other day one of Lincoln's teachers pulled me aside to tell me a story.  She said that his assignment was to listen to a story and to retell the story in his own words stating the characters and the important details.  She proceeded to tell him a story about a little girl whose parents had to go to a meeting so the little girl was going to stay home alone.  She was nervous about it, but everything turned out to be fine. 
Soon it was Lincoln's turn to retell the story.  He said, "Once upon a time there was a girl named Jessica.  Jessica's parents got invited to go to a big disco dance party in L.A.  When they got to the party they saw that there was a disco ball and a Ferris wheel!"  The teacher stopped Lincoln to make sure that he understood the instructions.  She said, "Lincoln, did you know that you are supposed to tell me the story that I told you?"  He lovingly put his hand on her arm and looked at her and said, "I know Mrs. Liston.  I was just trying to help you make your story much more interesting." 
She laughed and laughed.  She said he was so sincere and sweet.  When she told me the story tears of laughter were rolling down her cheeks.  She thinks he is a very funny boy.  She then told Lincoln that after he tells her the story she told, he could tell her whatever story he wanted.  He reluctantly agreed and successfully completed his task.  Ha!
What a sweetheart.

While driving home today a song by a popular singer who I don't care for came on the radio. I turned the radio all the way down. Lincoln asked why. I replied by saying that I don't really like the songs that this person sings. Again, he asked why. I explained that her songs don't make me feel good inside because she sings about making bad choices. He nodded his head and said, "Oh. I get it. She sings about picking her nose, right?"  I suppressed my giggle and said, "she says some naughty words in her songs too."  Again, he understood and said, "Does she say words like stupid?"  Oh the innocence!

Today while watching a movie about Abinadi and King Noah Lincoln said, "King Noah is kind of like a crazy little ape."  

While shopping today I saw this shirt and I had to get it for Lincoln especially after last night. I took Lincoln to a play. We saw You're a Good Man Charlie Brown at Dixie High School. After the play we went to shake hands with the actors. One of them asked Lincoln his name. In one breath he said, "mynameisLincoln. IamnamedafterAbrahamLincoln,butXouttheAbraham."  He made an X with his fingers when he said it. Priceless!

President's Day

I wish I could say that I am one of those people who gets to sleep in on Holidays, but my holiday-loving son gets so excited for EVERY holiday, (yes, EVERY holiday) that he can't contain his enthusiasm for it. 

Here's how I woke up this morning with L's face mere centimeters from mine: "Mom!  HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY!  Are you so excited?  This is a BIG day!  Today we get to remember our presidents. I have already thought about them because when I poured the milk in my cereal I noticed it was white and that made me think of the White House."

Actually, I'm glad that I don't get to sleep in because that would mean I would miss out on priceless moments like that one. ❤️

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was so great!  I woke up at about 6:15.  My alarm was set for 6:30, but I figured since I was up I might as well get up.  I went to the kitchen and started my breakfast.  Soon, Lincoln came in with sleepy eyes and stiff legs and in a groggy voice said, "surprise...happy birthday, mom!"  I gave him a hug and kiss and told him thank you.  Then he told me he was going back to sleep.  That was so sweet!
I started to get myself ready for the day.  Soon it was time to get Lincoln up again.  I woke him up and he ran to get my gifts.   David came in with him and I opened my presents.  I got an Eiffel Tower statue and a book that I have been wanting to read.  Those gifts were so nice.
When I got to school I opened my classroom door and found that my students had decorated my classroom with banners and signs.  They came early that morning and borrowed a master key to get into my classroom.  How thoughtful!  They sang to me all day long, made cards, gave me little gifts and just made me feel really special. 
At about 3:00 I was reading a book to my class when Lincoln busted into my classroom with a bouquet of flowers and singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of his lungs.  That was the cutest!  David followed shortly after with cake for my students.  We spent the last 30 minutes of school celebrating my birthday.  We had so much fun!
All day long I got text messages and voice messages wishing me a happy birthday.  It was wonderful!
That night we went to Lincoln's basketball practice and out to dinner.  My dad called me and told me a poem that he wrote for me since he could not be with me.  It went like this...
Happy Birthday Shanny Bug
I wish I was there to give you a hug
But since I am not I called to say
Have a very, very, very Happy Birthday!
That was so sweet and thoughtful.  I love my dad so much.
That birthday was so memorable.  I felt special all day long.

Christmas 2013

 We had a very enjoyable Christmas.  Although we were not able to spend the holiday in a home of our own, we still enjoyed every minute, because we were surrounded by family.

On Christmas Eve we went to Derral and Carolyn's house for a Christmas party.  We did the nativity scene while we were there.  Aubrey was Mary and Caleb was the baby Jesus.

 Lincoln and Bridger were shepherds.  When the scripture says "Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy..." Lincoln and Bridger did their best job to act afraid. 

 Although Caleb did not enjoy being part of the scene, Lincoln did his very best to stay in character as a shepherd worshiping the baby Jesus.

 We had a great night.

 After the party we headed home to get settled there so we could enjoy the next morning.  We got Lincoln in bed and David and I had a little bit of wrapping left to do, so we watched It's a Wonderful Life while we wrapped.  That is definitely my favorite Christmas movie.
The next morning at 3:30 Lincoln excitedly came into our room loudly asking us to get up.  He said "It's Christmas Day and Santa has been here!"  He was so excited!  I got up with him and we looked around at the gifts for a while.  Then I calmly told him that it was too early and we needed to go back to bed until the sun starts to come up.  I don't know how, but I actually got him to go back to sleep.  At about 7:30, David's mom and dad came over to celebrate with us.  Lincoln was still asleep so I went in to get him out of bed.  He was excited that it was finally time to open gifts.

 We had a great Christmas!  Lincoln's favorite gift was his Ninja Turtle Lego set.  He also really liked his science kit.  David surprised me with a guitar!  I had no idea.  I even started to cry a little.

 A couple of days later we headed to Parowan for our second Christmas celebration.  Everyone was there and we had a blast!

 Charlotte is the sweetest little girl!

 Lincoln sure loves his aunts and uncles.

What a great Christmas we had!