videos worth your family's time

Maybe you have been in these situations:

Its Sunday. The kids want to watch something but are hoping for something other than what is in your collection.

or

You are tired of the usual mind numbing videos for the children.

Well, check out Book of Virtues on BYU



BYUTV.org site has 13 episodes of the "Book of Virtues. Yes, they are free for your web viewing. My children love these shows and the shows actually impart good morals to back up what we parents try to teach. You can enjoy watching something that might actually be worth your family's time.

little reminders that I'm living the good life

Like many of you I struggle to keep an orderly house. There is always was one mess after another, and I only have two children to follow. Each child has their own cleaning responsibilities and our system works fairly well. Yet I still get frustrated returning to a room that was just cleaned to find it strewn with toys. "Another mess to clean," I think to myself. One day I started to look closely as the mess that I thought was haphazardly placed through out the room. It was a battle scene, one of Zayne's many. The apparent thought that was taken to create each little scenario within the battle impressed me. I didn't see a mess after that but the evidences of a young boy with a lively imagination. I do not want him loose that imagination and wonder as he grows older. I now let him keep his little, creative messes out for longer periods and relish in the imagination and the focus it takes to construct such wonderlands. I have even started to photograph his creations so they are easier for us both to see taken apart.

Another time I was in the kitchen after the evening straightening routine and the children were in bed. Relaxing and pulling Dan in for an embrace I noticed a flaw in the my orderly room. A khaki colored army man was hiding out in one of my plants with his gun aimed toward us. I pushed aside my initial annoyment, laughed, and became grateful for the reminder of the playful little boy tucked up in bed. So now whenever I can sense aggravation for things left about the house I remind myself that I am blessed. I am blessed to have a little girl that played with that doll on the couch. I am blessed that she still wants to play with all those stuffed animals on her floor too. The balls in the yard remind me that my children are healthy enough to play. The book left in the tree tells me that my children love to read. The dirt by the door left by little feet makes me grateful that those little feet enjoy the outdoors. The stuffed duck wrapped in the newspaper, plastic bag, tucked in on the shoe shelf tells me that I am blessed because. . . it shows their creativity? (I wonder what was going through their minds on that one)? I often tell myself, "Having these blessed, messy reminders is easier to live with then without." Then I can holler in my best June Cleaver voice, "Joshi, Zayne. Please come pick up your stuff." I wait. "One . . . Two. . ."

small town life

Yes, I am loving the small town life. I love walking or biking everywhere. I love that everyone is friendly. Haven't met a grouchy person yet. I love walking Dan the five blocks to work and having two cars pass us in rush hour. I love Dan coming home for lunch. I love mountain biking from my door. I love the sense of community. I love that the average speed is 21 mph, even in a 35 mph zone. I love. . . I could go on and on.

The pace of life has slowed down for us and we welcome that change. We are in the honeymoon phase of this lifestyle morph. All the rosiness might wear off as time passes, especially when winter hits. The two mountain passes were closed ten times last winter, blocking off the town from the world. One thing that Dan misses is a place to open up and let his car fly and some clover leaf on-ramps for corner hugs. I dislike having a Walmart nearby. This might sound shocking to those who heard me say before moving here, "At least they have a Walmart." The area surrounding Walmart feels busy and worldly. I'd rather shop at the multiple Mom and Pop shops around town.

Its been nice loosening the apron strings a bit. The kids have free reign to walk or bike wherever in town. I make them take a cell phone to keep in touch. Sometimes I make myself stay home instead of frolicking with them for the few remaining days of summer. I believe they need time to experience and explore childhood without their mother hoovering about to grant or deny permission. I feel much more comfortable doing that here than Richmond.

Last week my nephew Devon visited from Utah. He is such a good kid. If all young men were like him Satan would be pretty frustrated and God's work would get a big push forward. It was great to go camping, tour Pendleton Woolen Mills Factory and basically just enjoy him.

Raingutter Ragatta

All of us parents have a certain amount of pride when talking about our children. It is normal and healthy to have such pride and it is the opposite if that pride is lacking. Yet, sometimes some of us error and let our pride lead us to boasting about our children's miraculous feats. I consciously condescend to this boastful practice by gloating that Zayne slaughtered all the other little cub scouts in a multi pack Raingutter Ragatta! Yeah Zayne!

how to make those long family car rides shorter

Just got back from the Pediatric Urologists. The doctor informed me of something that I thought other parents might find interesting. Red food coloring is a diuretic. Red coloring is also in purple, pink and sometimes orange food products. Remember that on your next road trip with the family and the kids want a grape Gatorade. The fewer the stops the better for my husband, so I found this information valuable.

lifetime love affair

As a child I was not a reader. I didn't dislike reading; I just couldn't hold still long enough to finish anything. I think that is the same reason my mother gave up on me learning to play the piano. Reading a book didn't come to my mind as something to entertain myself. I wanted to play soccer, ride a bike, and play, and play, and play. So, it thrills me to see my children becoming devout readers. The reading gene certainly comes from the Kirkham side of the family. I tease them, and it is true, that they have already read more books than I did before I graduated from high school. It also is satisfying to see my children enjoying this pass time for it is a skill and desire that I strove to develop within them since infancy. My current favorite trick is to stratigically leave books that I want them to read on the couch or any other noticable place. I have to bite my tongue many times when I find them reading and they should be doing something else because I had set them up.
Joshi and Zayne have also been good example to me of how to squeeze in a read. Typically they have a book in the car to read while we drive or if we get stuck somewhere. Also, they leave books here and there through out the house and are handy to sneak in a few pages in between classes. I have found them reading in the bath, in trees, in the bathroom, perched on the kitchen counter and cirled up with the dogs.



I love to have them see me read. Most of the time they too go grab a book. Zayne sometimes wants to read what I am reading. For the past couple weeks I have been reading what they read. Sharing their books with me excites them. Reading all those books that I should have read as a child has been fun. I have also gained a great appreciation for juvenile literature.

There is a Kirkham family rule, which Dan has exempted himself from, that you cannot see a book based movie until you read the book. So in the past couple weeks we've raced through the "Water Horse," "Spiderwick Chronicles," "Nancy Drew," and "The Chronicles of Narnia." Well, Zayne is done with the prior and I am on book #2. He puts me to shame. Out of all the books so far, my children love the books from the "Redwall" series, by Brian Jacques. I hope they continue their love affair with reading through their lifetime.

don't read if you are squirmish

Okay, I know this is not appropriate, so stop reading if this stuff bothers you. I thought this information comically odd yet it might be useful to some heads of households who have been asked to look into the porcelain bowl to see if there was something wrong with "it". Now you can answer with confidence, "That's a Bristol 3 son. Good job!"

Dan was the one that brought the scale to my attention with the comment, "Can you believe someone got paid to study done?"

I hope you all rate well on the scale.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bristol Stool Chart
The Bristol Stool Scale or Bristol Stool Chart is a medical aid designed to classify the form of human feces into seven groups. It was developed by Heaton and Lewis at the University of Bristol and was first published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 1997[1] The form of the stool depends on the time it spends in the colon[2].



The seven types of stool are:
Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces (entirely liquid)

Types 1 and 2 indicate constipation, with 3 and 4 being the "ideal stools" especially the latter, as they are the easiest to pass. 5-7 being further tending towards diarrhea or cholera.[2]

sing the song! sing the song!

I awoke Easter morning to my children piling in my bed and excitedly requesting, "Sing the song! Sing the song!" The family snuggled together while I sang in my best, groggy morning voice He is Risen. There is something special and powerful about Easter morning. The emotions it conjures up in me rivals the magic of Christmas morn. HE IS RISEN. But it always wasn't so for me. Its not that as a child I didn't understand what Easter was. My parents made sure that we did by the way they conducted our family devotional on Easter and the way they referenced the holiday throughout the year. But the source of excitement for me as a child came from the anticipation of the events surrounding Easter such as that wonderful Easter basket filled with all sorts of wonderful candies and of course the chocolate bunny. Would it be solid this year? Would it have crispies in it? Other sweet childish questions would occupy my mind: When would our mother let us color the eggs? Would mine be the most unique? Could I beat my brother to find the most eggs? Would I get a new dress the year? What makes that Easter Lilli smell so beautifully? Yet, in the back of my mind Christ was there and would would come to the front when my mind would slow down enough to think about him.

When did the excitement for the Christ side of Easter come? I think maybe on my mission it started, yet it came to full fruition while I was in the hospital on bed rest with Zayne. I decided earlier that week to have my own personal Easter service since I would be alone that morning and I still wanted to remember the sacredness of the day. I layed out my tools the night before, my scriptures. Upon awaking the next morning I sang He is Risen, then Christ the Lord is Risen Today. Singing these hymns made me feel so joyful I sung them several times. After singing I read my favorite chapters about resurrection, I Corinthians 15, "Death, where is thy sting, grave where is thy victory?" and Alma 40. I felt a powerful witness to the reality of Christ's resurrection, the reality of every one's resurrection, my family's resurrection as well as my own. Feeling and knowing the reality of the resurrection makes me feel so excited. I am excited to one day hopefully see Our Risen Savior. I am excited to see loved ones who have passed on. I am excited to have a perfect and immortal body. I become even more excited each time another year and new ailments are added to my body. What a truly amazing gift each of us have been given.

That was a special Easter morning I spent alone in an hospital room, and so has each Easter morning been since then, even with children waking me up early happily squealing, "Sing the song! Sing the song!"

cute things

Zayne cracks me up sometimes and I just have to write about it. There are times when he does not speak like a normal eight year old with his word usage. Like this morning he was "transfixed" on his food. Sometimes he finds a situation "plausible." Once in awhile he mispronounces a word but uses it right. I think that it safe to presume that he gleans these words from his reading. Zayne likes to read a lot, an awful lot. If he gets in trouble we sometimes take away his reading privileges. Let it be known that the other side of this reading monster is a video game fiend. It is like his cocaine and there is never enough of it. But don't worry, we monitor the cocaine intake. I wonder why games and books can keep him rapt in attention while staying on task writing is so difficult for this cute little guy? Using the Institute for Excellence in Writing has helped tremendously with that challenge though. The program has helped him organize his writing details before putting them on paper.

Another thing about Zayne that makes me smile is watching and listening to him play. Watching children play in their very own fantasy worlds is always delightful, but adding sound to that just makes it even more endearing. Of course he does the typical guns blasting, bombs exploding and people yelling noises, but he also sings. It is more common to find Zayne playing by himself singing than playing quietly. What does he sing? Whatever is in his head be it of another’s composition or his own. He loves to rewrite songs to make the lyrics comical. It truly is adorable, especially because he has a higher pitch voice singing. He has done this for years. As a toddler he would often start singing in the mornings before even opening his eyes. That would melt any mother’s heart. For about a year we heard “Baa-Baa Black Sheep” and “The Farmer in the Dell” every day. Yet, he has no desire to sing in a choir or solo in front of others. I hope he keeps this wonderful singing habit for years to some.

I had a "Mommy Payday" yesterday. Its that little yet proud, warm fuzzy moment when your child shows you that he actually is internalizing your teachings, she is expanding on them and making them her own, you glimpse the adult they are becoming and all of which reinforces to your heart that your are doing a good job with your children. Zayne and I were talking about faith for a cub scout badge. When asked if he knows of anyone who has displayed faith he smiled, put his arms around my neck, sweetly looked into my eyes and said, "You Mommy. You have faith in me for when I grow up. That is why you do school and read with us. You know, for when I am older and on my own." My heart almost burst at his words. I hugged that adorable child like I hadn't seen him in a week. Those dear words came on a bad homeschooling day. I actually had thrown in the towel and opted to read books with the kids on the trampoline while basking in the sun rays of a rare warm winter day.

A few days ago I asked Zayne to eat something more filling than a piece of toast for lunch. He lovingly replied, "But Mom, I like to put Grammi Jam on my toast because I think of Grammi while I eat it. And it fills me with love." I let him eat the Grammi Jam and toast.

Joshi is my writer and always has been. She was "writing" books before she even knew all her letters. She has probably filled more journals in her 10 years of life then I have in my 34 years. We are still working on our spelling and grammar, but she too has improved with IEW. Her problem was opposite of Zayne's; she could write on and on forever. IEW has helped her focus her writing in a more concise manner.

Writing poetry is another one Josi's periodic pastimes. Yet, heaven forbid I try to give any pointers or teach anything about poetry writing. You might be wondering how we can homeschool with that attitude. Fortunately the attitude doesn't flow over to all subjects.

Joshi is into her horses, stuffed animals (all over her bed and snuggling her at night), tea parties and the Redwall book series by Brian Jacques. The audio books really hold her affection. Brian Jacques and his Liverpool cast do a fabulous job bringing his books to life with their creative voices, drums and songs. The only problem with this obsession is that she has begun to talk with the characters' accents and terminology and at times comprehending her is awkward. Yet, it still is adorable. Dan drew the line last night when she was talking like that during family prayer. She got into the tea party thing because Felicity from the American Girl book series likes them. I has ben rather nice having my mint tea brought to me.