The Lamoreaux Family: October 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Spotlight on Andrew

Yesterday Courtney and Mallory were sitting in my room talking with me, when we heard Andrew "singing" in the bathroom. I put "singing" in quotation marks because only by using the furthest reaches of imagination could you call it singing.

He sits in there and screams songs at the top of his lungs, with little attention to tune or rhythm. I don't know how he has avoided deafness, because it is deafening to us who are outside the bathroom. The echos inside his sound room must be ear-splitting.

He does this every day. Then he'll go to primary and sing songs in a sweet little normal voice.

Here's an excerpt from the song we heard yesterday:
"Oh, may I always listen...
...TO THE STILL SMALL VOICE!!!!..."

It was cute to see Mallory understand the humor of the situation and hear her ensuing giggles.

Little Andrew has a funny way of looking at life. He's made me re-think all of my parenting philosophies. We've always thought he was sort of quiet and shy (which he is), but we've realized a lot lately how deeply he thinks about things. In a sort of bizarre way. To illustrate, I'll share a conversation from Friday. We had been at gymnastics all day and Andrew was telling me about his friend Preston.

A: "I was tackling Preston, and tackling him."
Me: "Did he want to be tackled?"
A: "No."
Me: ....(pause)..."Did you stop when you knew he didn't want to be tackled?"
A: "No."
Me: "How did you know he didn't want you to tackle him?"
A: "Because he kept saying 'stop'".
Me: ...?
A: "But he should have said a prayer to Heavenly Father. He would have helped him. Instead, he just kept saying 'stop', 'stop'"
Me: !!!

Needless to say, we had a little talk about manners and friendship skills. After which, Andrew said "I should draw him a picture to tell him sorry."

My apologies to the Browning Family for the treatment of poor Preston. Hopefully, Andrew's social skills will improve a bit from this experience. It may be a process, however. Today in Sacrament, after being fairly reverent, he unexpectedly slid off the bench, and reached out and flicked a teen-age boy in our ward right in the back. Twice. For no apparent reason.

(Bob leaned forward and told the kid "you just flick him right back!")

Isn't amazing how Heavenly Father reminds us to pray and learn by sending us children who we really need to pray about? No user manuals with each child, or training sessions before having children. I think we kind of naively enter parenting with an expectation that our children will behave well, act in a certain way, and be predictable. We all have a lot to learn. (Including Andrew) Good thing we love these little kiddos so much.

Monday, October 4, 2010

"Abbyisms"

I know, I have neglected this blog forever. Pictures and posts are coming soon! I've been only using my new Mac laptop, instead of my old laptop which still has all my pictures on it. That's my excuse for not posting. That and being super busy raising my kiddos.

Here's four favorites from Abby lately:
----
Abby: Mom, what is that?
Mom: It is called spinach.
Abby: What does it spin about?
Mom: It's just a vegetable called spinach.
Abby: Does it spin around in the soup and go up? (With accompanying hand motions)
----
Courtney (while tucking Abby in bed, we have a ritual of us putting lots of blankets on her): Do you have enough blankets, Abby, or do you want 3 more on?

Abby: Just one. I'm not a moron.
----
Bob was laying on the bed, and Abby came up and started squeezing his bicep.
Abby: You're a Dad.
(Squeezing some more)
...You're a squishy Dad.
(Since then Bob has been lifting weights and recently put on 20 lbs for football season. He's definitely not "squishy" now.)
----
Abby has a doll named Grace. Grace is a huge part of our family. We've all taken turns holding her, helping her "stop crying", changed her diapers, etc. We've all had to look for her late at night before bed when she has been missing, etc. I think it is cute how many times I've come in the room to see Jace sitting all by himself, holding Grace, because Abby gave him the job of watching her. Jace is really cute with Abby, he'll even ask to hold Grace just because he thinks it is cute how happy this makes Abby.

When I nurse my Taycie Grace, Abby sits near me, and "nurses" Grace. Often I will be talking and interacting with Taycie Grace, and I'll notice Abby mimicking me exactly with her Grace. It's so cute! (And humbling) She'll always say things like: "Mom, are you holding your Taycie Grace? I'm holding my Grace." Her poor little Grace is starting to look dingy, but I'm afraid to throw her in the washing machine, because I'm worried that she'll get ruined and that would be just like a death in the family.

Anyway, today Jace and Aliysa were being goofy, and making up rhyming phrases.
Jace said something about "mace", and Aliysa replied "which I handle with grace". Abby glared in a startled way at her, and in an angry warning tone said "don't you put a hand on my Grace!"

Ah, we love this spunky little two-year old (although she often insists that she is three. Just now I asked her how old she is, and she replied without a pause: "twenty-one")

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Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone