Trying to Force the Tooth Fairy's Hand...or Wand, as it Were...

Years ago, I read in a parenting magazine, an article about how to inspire your children to brush their teeth. The article included many moms sharing stories about what had worked for them. One mother's story intrigued me because she explained that she would tell her children that they needed to brush all of the tiny, "Sugar Monsters" off of their teeth. I really felt like that would work for me because, all three of my boys have gone through stages where they like to pretend that they are embroiled in hand to hand combat with monsters of all sorts. Ridding our mouths of, "Sugar Monsters" has worked brilliantly for years to inspire my sons to brush...until three days ago...

Adam has been losing lots of his baby teeth. He resists having them pulled until they are literally falling out of his head, and once they do, the typical fanfare ensues, followed by a visit from, the most majestic of all women in my sons' opinion, The Tooth Fairy.

Three days ago, I told Brian to go brush his teeth. He said he didn't want to, so I reminded him of his meaningful work of eradicating Sugar Monsters from his mouth. He replied flatly, "Mom, I want the Sugar Monsters to get my teeth, and make them all wiggly, so they fall out and I get money like Adam." Being the quick thinker that I am I responded, with a snappy, "Uhhhhhhhh, honey, you still have to brush your teeth. It is important to keep your gums healthy....uhhh...so go do it." We then, of course, had a lengthy argument. I admit that he really had a clever line of thinking, in wanting his teeth to get all wiggly. I have decided that we are not going to argue tonight. I am going to tell him that The Tooth Fairy only accepts healthy, well brushed teeth. Ya like that? I'm pretty pleased with myself...and, it only took me 48 (blasted) hours to come up with it. *Sigh* this kid is killin' me...(love him more than life itself, though)

Brian (4 years and 9 months old)

It Has Come to This...

I don't blame any of you if you are sick of me posting about bathroom issues on this blog. Do you remember this previous post? You should be warned that this post will be about cleaning the bathroom. Clearly, with 3 boys...this post will not be for the faint of heart. I need to post this as a form of therapy for myself. (thanks, Jessica for teaching me how to link!)

I have been beside myself with how on earth to get the stench out of the boys' bathroom. Even after a thorough cleaning the smell would still linger. I couldn't figure out why I was unable to get the smell to disappear...it was not for lack of trying.

Finally, I unscrewed the entire lid and seat off of the top of the toilet and discovered this:

So...I put the entire seat and lid into the tub with hot water and straight bleach and soaked it for over an hour. Then, I drained the tub and let the lid and seat soak in hot, clear water. I wanted to get all of the bleach off of the seat, as not to burn anyone's flesh when they tried to use the bathroom. I left it there to soak and went on with my other cleaning.

About an hour later, Adam asked me if he could take a bath. I, of course, didn't put, "two and two together", as they say and I told him excitedly, "Sure!" I should have been suspicious when a 7 year old came to me asking me if he could take a bath of his own free will. So, a while later I went to replace the seat and lid on the toilet and discovered this...

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Well, at least the seat, and lid are clean, and he added soap, right?

*sigh*

Hey, and while we are here, may I please point out my horribly outdated "Pepto-Bismol" pink bathroom tile? Since this tile has not been available since 1955 I prefer to think of it as "Vintage" rather than outdated. (Please, indulge me. Thank you.)

I am pleased to report that the bathroom smells 100% better. (at least.)

Adam (7 years and 6 months old at the time of the photo shoot.)

Everything on this blog made possible by...

My Fabulous Friend, Jaime!!!!

Seriously, I wouldn't have a blog if it weren't for her. Jaime has spent hours with me on the phone, (she lives in my homeland of Virginia) conducting intense blogging tutorial sessions. If sometimes my comments get too long on all of your blogs, you should be grateful I don't have your phone numbers, because...just ask Jaime, I am really hard to get off of the phone. I guess it has sort of come back to bite her, because I totally lifted these great pictures of her right off of her blog withour her permission. Sorry, Jaime...you give some people a little knowledge...

I love blogging for so many reasons. Besides being a great way to accomplish my family history, I have met so many amazing women and consider them my friends, even though they probably wouldn't know me if they had to pick me out of a police line-up. Living in a military town has been kind of difficult for me because, you make friends, and then they have to move away. (or Military Policeman will come and get them. whatever.) As I was telling Jaime the other day on the phone, I really appreciate having all of these amazing friends that can remain a constant for me.

Also, I love blogging because it gives me a chance to (sometimes) look like I can come up with witty comments. I am not really witty in real life. If someone says something funny I burst out into a giggling fit...and sometimes, there is snorting involved. Blogging allows me to compose myself, and think of something to say...and no one is the wiser if I have been snorting or laughing like a hyena. Blogging is really a win, win situation for me.

so...

Thank you, Jaime! This really means the world to me!

Jaime is an awesome friend to have, even without blogging tutorial sessions. She always does these thoughtful things for people. When I was having a horrible week she brought me a care package with all of my favorites just to cheer me up. Oh, and I think I should share that when I was 9 months pregnant with Brian she helped me pack my entire house because we had to be out in 12 days at the buyers' request. Most notable in that story is...Jaime was in her 8th month of pregnancy at the time of our packing. Also, when Mike had to start the new job in Georgia and we couldn't join him because our house hadn't sold yet...yeah, Jaime was there for me then, too. She brought me Wise Onion Rings to calm my nerves. She knows I am an onion ring snob. I can't eat Funyuns. They feel too sharp to me, and cut my tongue. Jaime pays attention to detail like that.

I would link Jaime's awesome blog now, so you could all go read it...but, I still haven't figured that out yet. Jaime...you can be expecting a call about, "how to link" within the next week.

Love, Ya!

Seriously, Thanks a Million!

Oh, and Jaime...I still can't get the spell check on blogger to work. I'll be calling about that, too.

My Funny Valentine

Here we are in our engagement picture. It will be 14 years of wedded bliss in May.

Here we are in the present day...

As you know, Mike, I adore this picture of us. For those of you at home, this picture is special to me because it made me laugh immediately upon posing for it. You see, my mom said, "I want to get a picture of everyone and their spouse..." I am really not fond of having my picture taken. I won't bore everyone with my body image issues, but...as soon as my mom made the request for us to pose, without missing a beat, Mike jumped on my back. I stumbled forward a little...but luckily, the photo op did not end in disaster. (Namely, me falling face forward on my brother's gravel driveway) Honey, I just love this picture because I think it captures how funny you are, and how you always know how to not take things too seriously.

Happy Valentine's Day, Mike! I love you! Thanks for the past 14 years and for these wonderful guys!

Yeah, I am aware I am still behind on posting pictures. I thought you might like this action shot though, Babe.

All My Love,

Lauren

Retraction...

In my "7 Things About Me Tag" post I originally stated that the former Stake President that caressed my knee was "Brother Packer". Actually, after consulting my journal I realized his name was Brother Packard. The authors of this blog (namely, me) regret any error and have corrected the mistake. I didn't want to spread any false information. Brother Packard was very remorseful for mistaking me for his wife...okay...carry on...as you were...


I still can't get the spell check to work so, I regret any spellinng errors, also...

Thank you for your time,
The Management

7 things about me tag...

Before I begin I must say, I cannot get the spell check on blogger to work. In other words, I'm doomed.

• Here I am at age 2. I thought I was the proverbial "bees' knees" didn't I? Look at that pose.
  
  My wonderful friend, Suzanne Bree tagged me, and now I am supposed to tell you 7 little known things about myself. This will prove to be fascinating, I'm sure...did you detect a little note of sarcasm there? (If I knew how to link, I would link Suzanne's fabulous blog so you all could read hers...but alas, I have only been blogging since November, and I have yet to figure the whole linking thing out.) Well, without further ado....here goes...

1. My sisters, Stephanie and Megan once had to stage an intervention in hopes to inspire me to buy new family room couches. I believe Stephanie's inspirational words were something along the lines of, "Lauren, you need new couches like nobody's business." My response to the intervention was...well, typical denial. I remember saying something like, "Why? I have 3 active boys...why would I buy new couches just to have them destroyed in record breaking time?" Shortly after my loving sisters initiated the intervention we did purchase new couches. I believe another intervention is in order. My new couches are already in really sad shape. We bought some kind of magic sounding "micro-fiber" couches that are supposed to repel stains. Hmmmph...too bad that didn't work out. I wanted to spring for leather couches but Mike said they feel too cold. He is probably right, besides my boys would probably have leather couches so scratched up they would look like wolverines had been climbing all over them. Maybe I should just shellac the new couches and get it over with. Okay, enough about couches...
2. Speaking of things that are, "like nobody's business"...My brothers Frank and John can make me laugh, like nobody's business. Seriously, they make me laugh so hard that I can barely catch my breath. If I didn't know better, I would think they are actually trying to make me laugh so hard that I actually pass out. Wait a miniute...I think I just put two and two together...I think they are trying to make me pass out. My brother-in-law Jon Clay is included in the dubious distinction of being extremely hilarious. On a funny side note, my brother Frank and Jon Clay (my sister Stephanie's future husband) used to be roommates in college. People used to call them "hetero-life partners" because they got along so well. We used to joke that Jon Clay married Steph because he couldn't marry Frank and still be an upstanding member of the church.
3. When I was in college, I really wanted to be a theater major. I took an acting class and I was really drawn to performing. It didn't take long for me to realize that the roles being offered at the small liberal arts university that I was attending were not conducive to having the Spirit with me. For example, the spring production that all of the theater majors were auditioning for was a play entitled La Ronde. The plot of the play involves all of the characters taking turns sleeping with each other. I kind of chuckled to myself envisioning what on earth I would say to my parents if they ever came to see me in such a production. "So, Mom, Dad was I convincing as "The Whore" in Scenes One and Ten?" It was a very confusing time for me. What came as a surprise to me, was that I was seriously tempted to audition for some very questionable productions. It was one of the most difficult times for me in terms of having the desire to choose personal righteousness. I finally went to counsel with a church leader. After much discussion, he spoke strongly with the Spirit when he explained that if I continually put myself in a base mindset, in order to develop these performances so that the characters I was portraying were believable, it would wear away at my ability to feel the Spirit. I decided to remain an Elementary Education major and leave the theater program at Radford University behind me. If I sound righteous or noble, to you, I really should confess that it was a very arduous decision. (Recently I auditioned for a stake production of Kenneth Cope's Women at the Well. I wanted one of the four narration parts. I was not cast. (As Gab said to Stie once in a comment about Stie wanting a puppy), "Life is rich with irony, isn't it?"
4. In my first area on my mission in Texas, my companion and I helped to organize a fireside (kind of like a devotional) for the youth in our ward (our congregation), and their friends that are not members of the church. I was a brand new missionary, or a "greenie" as new missionaries are often referred to. The fireside was held in the home of a wonderful family in our ward named the Packards. Brother Packard was a former stake president, they had, if I am remembering correctly, 11 bright and beautiful children (some were grown and gone by the time I met the family) and Sister Packard never ceased to amaze me with her talents and organizational skills. The fireside was a success, and after it was over the youth were all enjoying refreshments and socializing. My compainon and I were sitting on the couch chatting with Sister Packard who was sitting on the arm of the couch. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Brother Packard approaching us...and next thing I knew he used my upper thigh to help him kneel down and sit beside me on the couch in between his wife and myself. He then began to lovingly stroke my knee. I completely froze...there was never any training in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to help a missionary deal with a situation like this one. I believe I would have taken detailed notes on a lesson entitled, "How to discourage a church going, family man from caressing your knee right in front of his wife and in full view of his children." I kind of sat there, stunned, but I did notice my companion's mouth gaping open and her eyes as large as two pizzas. Just as I decided I was going to politely excuse myself and move, Brother Packard finally, looked me right in the eyes and said, "Oh! Oh, my!" Everyone burst into laughter, except for me and Brother Packard, as Brother Packard explained that he had thought I was his wife. His ability to see was not as keen as it had once been, and when he was approaching the couch he saw his wife sitting on the arm of the couch, I was seated beside her with a little space between the two of us and after one glance he saw a brunette with big bangs (it was 1991, after all) and just got a little confused. Ahhhh, memories. The Elders had a good time torturing me at our next district meeting when they heard this story. I didn't have the foresight to take a picture of Brother Packard, but here is a picture of my wonderful, big bangs on my mission. These sweet little girls are the daughters of one of our investigators (someone we were teaching about the gospel), Lori Cathey. (L-R : Allison, Amy and Ashley) Notice my Franklin Planner in the background...good times, good times.....
5. I have a problem with being a little too verbose in my writing. I think you may have noticed, already.
6. Mike and I were sealed in the Washington, D. C. temple. When we arrived to the temple on our wedding day, we immediately noticed the spires of the beautiful temple were covered in scaffolding in order to clean and repair them. I was so giddy and excited that day to be marrying Mike, that I said without a care, or properly thinking it through, perhaps, "Oh, we will just take pictures on the lawn and not of the temple since the scaffolding is kind of ugly." In retrospect, I really regret that decision because, I would love to have pictures of us with our wedding party in front of the temple on our special day, scaffolding or not. Besides, not many people have scaffolding in their wedding pictures, right? They would have been unique. Oh well, at least I got the most important thing: an eternal marriage, despite not having a good photo shoot. Here is a picture of our special day. You can't tell it is the temple but, you can tell it is 1994 by the poofiness of my dress. I had a hard time letting the 80's go...

7. I adore all of my sisters. We call each other "sistows" and are a tight knit group. I have so many hilarious stories of our antics growing up. I am sure these will surface in future blogs. I also adore my sisters-in-law (how does one write that, it isn't sister-in-laws, is it?) Anyway, I not only have hilarious, and handsome brothers... they also have impeccable taste in women. :)

My sistow Stephanie, her husband Jon Clay, behind them my sistow-in-law, Tracy and her husband, my brother Frank.

My brother John and my sistow-in-law, Amy.

My sistows, Lisa and Megan

Well, there you have it...I was also tagged to write 50 random things about myself...I will have to ponder a little more, so I can make myself sound interesting...I mean, eh hem, so I can give a proper representation of what I am really like.

Said Plainly by Brian and Beautifully by Anna

Brian dressed in his shepherd costume last December for the "Back to Bethlehem" dinner at church. (4 years and 7 months old in the picture)



I didn't learn about President Hinckley passing away, until last Monday morning. I immediately burst into tears and called Mike at work to share the news with him. When I got off of the phone, Brian asked me with concern, "Who died, Mommy?" (I probably should have been more cognisant of the fact that Brian was in the room when I made my teary call to Mike) I quickly composed myself, and told him softly that President Hinckley had died, but that he was in Heaven, and everything was okay.



When my older boys arrived home from school that afternoon I told them quietly, "Everything is okay, and I will explain what this will mean in a minute but, I just wanted you to know that President Hinckley passed away last night..." Before I could finish, Brian cut me off and said, "...And he died, but he's in Heaven now." Thank you, sweet Brian.




I know that President Hinckley's passing is on all of our minds, especially after the funeral yesterday. I wanted to share with you a poem that my friend Anna Molgard wrote immediately upon hearing that our sweet prophet had died.

Here is a copy of the e-mail she sent:

Hello Friends,

I wrote the attached poem on Sunday night after a family member called us here in North Carolina to let us know of President Hinckley’s passing. I emailed it to my immediate family that night. I got an email this evening from an old friend from our ward in Logan where we lived 12 years ago who had received it from her sister. I was dumbfounded and a bit bewildered, but I guess the internet is a crazy thing. I thought you may enjoy it since you actually know me and can appreciate the sentiment. I’m so grateful for the influence President Hinckley has been on my life as the prophet during my entire marriage, my motherhood and most of my adult life.

Lots of love,
Anna

Here is a copy of the poem Anna wrote:

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he’s running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, “Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son.”

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception’s just fine,
But he hopes that he’ll get an assignment or two
Since there’s no need to waste any time.

I hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward – there’s work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

Thank you so much for that poem, Anna. I feel such emotion and peace when I read it.

Victory! (at long last)

Guess which Cub Scout took the title for FASTEST Pinewood Derby Car for the Pack 538 Webelo Division... That's right! One, Evan Michael Marshman! It was a sweet moment of victory! His Virginia Tech, Hokie car burned down the track to the amazement of onlookers! The fact that he came in 4th (ya know, 4th place only translates to "so close, but no bubblegum cigar" to a Cub Scout) as a Wolf and a Bear made this moment all the sweeter. Next, he hopes to dominate at districts, and then possibly take over the world! (insert sinister chortle, heh, heh, heh!)

In all seriousness...he is so excited to move on...wish him luck!

Evan, you are not allowed to refer to yourself as "The Man" (see most recent post "Evan update...") at districts. Remember son, "pride goeth before destruction".

Evan - January 2008 - (10 years and 6 months old)