Like His Side

Whenever I look at my kiddos I always see a bit of their Dad in 'em. I think it's because I spent so long scrap booking their Dad's baby pictures a few years ago and that sweet little face is stuck in my memory. I've noticed this a lot in Camilla and am now starting to notice these similarities with Hyrum. They both have the same tiny little nose. When my kiddos wear toques this feature is super noticeable. They both have similar foreheads and facial expressions. They both have those jolly little Stannix cheeks that pop out when they grin. And their chins are also very similar.

The only things they have from me are the sparkly blue Hudkins' eyes and the lack of hair. I do think it's a pretty cute combo though! But then again, I'm a little biased. I hope that one day they will look back and be proud of who they are and where they come from. I hope Hyrum will be proud of the fact that he has so much of his Daddy in him (and not just his stinkin' good looks either). I am very grateful that both of my kids inherited their Dad's determination and drive to succeed.  I hope that they'll always remember that anything can be accomplished with a little determination and hard work.

Literally

 Today was a pretty relaxing day with the snow and all. The kiddos found some great places to lounge around. Who knew a laundry basket could be so versatile?

This little monkey is into climbing. He will climb on anything that looks interesting and took a liking to this plastic drum today. It was the perfect sitting place for this little man.

 

When Hyrum was in the middle of drinking his bottle Camilla thought it would be funny to throw it across the room. Hyrum thought it was pretty hilarious too. The game continued for a few more minutes. Hyrum now loves throwing his bottle thanks to his big sis. 

 

Camilla got bored with being inside this afternoon and got caught beating up her little brother (who's almost as big as she is now). She went for a few time outs. The second time I sent her I told her to "march that tush over to the time out chair". And that she did, literally. As she raised her knees to march I had to turn around because I couldn't keep a straight face. She cracks me up sometimes. 

When bed time rolled around we read stories and I tucked them in. They are usually super good at being quiet and falling asleep. When I was downstairs I heard Hyrum say his sweet little, "Boo!". Then I heard Camilla's bed clinking around and Hyrum laughing hysterically. As I entered their room I found Hyrum stuck in his blankets on his stomach peeking around the dresser wearing a giant grin, and Camilla sitting up in her bed, both giggling hysterically. I'm thinking it's time to switch up the bed times.

Hands in My Pockets

While I made bread today this little boy tugged at 

my pants pocket and gave me the cutest grins ever!
(Which resulted in me getting this stuck in my head all day)

Bath Time

After dinner it's typically bath time.  Hyrum is already half naked from his messy dinner and Camilla gets bored quickly. Hyrum stands at the side of the tub as I run the water. His legs dance and he bounces up and down anxious to get into the warm water to play. His arms go up as I slip his shirt over his head. The tub feels cold on his bare tummy, but he still looks up at me and grins. Soon I hear Camilla running down the hallway. Her shirt is half off as she enters the bathroom, followed quickly by her pants and undies. Her socks make it off just before her feet hit the water it seems. They start off with some splashing and sliding. Our bathtub turns into an ocean of waves as they play and giggle together. I lay Hyrum down on one side of the tub and wet his hair, then I quickly sit him up. I squeeze some shampoo on my hand just in time to turn around and sit Hyrum back down for the gazillionth time. I rub the shampoo into his hair as he squirms around and then lay him down for a quick rinse. As I wash his hair Camilla is holding up her squirt toys, "What's this one called Mum?" Then it's Camilla's turn. She protests of course, she's not a fan of water in her ears or on her face. It takes some convincing to get her hair wet, but we talk about other things just for distraction. As I wash and rinse her hair I sit Hyrum down a couple more times so he doesn't slip. Then it's time for him to get out. I wrap him in his cozy warm towel and grab a bottle of lotion as I leave the bathroom. Camilla continues to play and splash and enjoys having the tub to herself to practice her swimming. Hyrum plays peek-a-boo from underneath the hood on the towel.  As he flashes his sweet little grin  I get so excited for bath time to come again. Camilla sets her squirt toys up on the edge of the tub and pulls the plug. She then gets herself out and finds her towel which I placed on the toilet seat earlier. Then they run naked around the house for a while until I can wrestle them into their Jammies. 

A night well spent.

Chalk and Snow Castles

This was pretty much my day today! Beautiful weather!!

Our Little "Oinker"

"Look, Mum, I can oink!"

Tending to Their Needs

This little girl always leaves me feeling so guilty when bed time rolls around. Stories are read and she gets tucked in and smothered in hugs and kisses. Last night after stories and kisses I brought Hyrum up and put him in his crib and then went to my little girls bed side. I gave her a nice long kiss on the cheek and a tiny squeeze and whispered in her ear, "I love you soo much!". Being the good little girl that she is, she pretended to be asleep. I went downstairs feeling super guilty about putting her to bed, or rushing through stories and the "routine". Then it went further, and I felt guilty for little things that went wrong that day, or how I expect too much of her, or the time outs that she had, or how I was too busy doing dishes to go and see her "snow angel" that she made in the office. Guilt is a terrible thing...

Come the end of the day I always find myself thinking, "Ya know, you really do have good kids". I just wish I would think that more during the day, or in the heat of a bad mommy moment.

I have been thinking about the word tending a lot lately. It's just such a soft, and gentle word. It has made me think a lot about what it means to tend to my children and be there each and every time they need me. 

In my studying and pondering I came across an article from the New Era in 1972 -- Kind of humorous, but there were a few lines in there that I love.

"Keep the children busy, happy, and safe, and you shouldn’t have any discipline problems."

This line was like a light bulb for me and made me realize my role in keeping Camilla busy will help me avoid problems. I love it!

"Always be kind and loving to the children; use the outer limits of your patience, and think of them first."

I almost laughed out loud when I read this. The words "outer limits" will definitely be flashing in the back of my mind as I go about my days from now on. I do also find that I have less patience when I'm thinking about me, or what I want to do/get done in the day.

"The children always come first—you should tend them and not the time. Be happy! Children notice and will be happy too. Be excited and enthusiastic—it’s contagious. Remember there is never a time when you are in the house with children that you are not communicating with them in some way; everything you do is teaching the children."

I super cherish the line "tend them and not the time" (this will be the quote of the week on my fridge I think). I find myself watching the clock a lot during the day, counting down the hours until Daddy will be home. On the days that I tend my children rather than the time, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to spend with them playing and laughing. 

Then another quote came to me from a book I read a few months back. It's kind of humorous and I'm not entirely sure why it has stuck with me. (I really should have been born "back in the day" I love stuff like this).

"I would like to see the time when our sisters will take more pains to beautify their children. When your children arise in the morning, instead of sending them out of doors to wash in cold, hard water, with a little soft soap, and wiping them as though you would tear the skin off them, creating roughness and darkness of skin, take a piece of soft flannel and wipe the faces of your children smooth and nice, dry them with a soft cloth; and instead of given them pork for their breakfast, give them good wholesome bread and sweet milk..."

~Brigham Young

I always think of this when I take a warm cloth to wipe my babe's dirty faces. I have shared many a sweet moment with my children over a warm cloth and a dirty face.  Some so tender that tears of joy fill my eyes. How precious these little children are! I am so grateful for the atonement and opportunity I have to repent each day as I strive to become a better Mommy to my children. I really like what is said in this video about how motherhood  "is something that you have to be partners with the Lord about". Motherhood is such a wonderful thing. What a truly special role we have to play.

Time to Use that Gift

 For Valentine's Day, Mr. Stannix scored us two tickets to a hockey game which was on Saturday evening. It was quite an enjoyable evening. After we gave our awesome babysitter the rundown of the evening, bedtime routine and all that fun stuff we ended up running half a block to catch our bus! A nice romantic jaunt to start off the evening.

As we rode the bus, I feared for my life and wasn't sure how Mr. Stannix didn't have a heart attack every day when he rode the bus (and I told him so). His reply was, "This? This is nothing!" And if that's the case, I now fear for my husbands life every day... He asked me if I had my transfer ticket and when I replied, "No" he frantically began searching his pockets for it. I opened up my hand to show him that I had it all along and then we joked that we need to hang out more so that we can tell when we're joshing each other.

We cruised by his office on our way to the LRT station. Mr. Stannix had planned to hit up Tim's for some Hot Chocolate before. I got me a Danish, but it was pecan something or other instead of cherry cheese. Sad day. It was still delish though. We held hands and walked the rest of the way to the LRT, hot chocolates burning our other hands, and waited on the platform for our train to arrive.  The two teams playing are from the two places we've been debating to settle. We joked that we would settle in the place of whatever team played better. Just let them decide...

The game was super fun. I always love hockey game music. It reminded me of watching hockey every weekend in my small hometown. I felt like I was reliving my youth (really, who am I kidding though? I still feel like I am in my youth most of the time). We laughed, watched, gave them the what-for when fights broke out... it was great. 

 

Mr. Stannix even told me stories from his nights at hockey. It was a pretty eventful game, and there was almost more fighting than Hockey. At least five of the away team got sent home and at the end of the game there was only three players left on the bench. Because our team scored in the last period (twice, three times?) every fan there got a gift certificate to Earls. It was a great way to finish off the evening! 

We came home to a quiet house with sleeping babes. Our babysitters are simply the best. It was a great night out!

Strange Things My Kids Do

 Last night before bed we made shamrock shakes. I didn't have whip cream or sprinkles, but they were still delish! Camilla knows that milkshakes have kind of become a Sunday night tradition and will start asking after dinner, "when is it milkshake time?" It's super cute!

Yesterday Camilla ate half her cheese slice and made the other half into a "snowball" and put it in this container. I found it at breakfast this morning. She wanted to eat it. Yum (but not really). She's been running around all morning singing, "it's spring time, it's spring time, lalala spring time!". I think some time at the park is in order this afternoon for a sunny, blue sky day such as this one!

After milkshakes last night we put the kids up to bed. Mr. Stannix and I snuggled on the couch and listened to them chat with each other. Finally they both zonked out. I went up later to pull up their covers before I went to bed and found Hyrum sleeping in a big lump in the middle of his crib. It was too funny not to take a picture...

Canadian Winters

I love Canadian winters. I love skating and watching hockey (which Mr. Stannix and I are going to do tonight for our date). I love the humor of Canadian winters though. You never know what to expect from day to day. Some weeks it's so cold that you don't leave your house for a long time, and other times, like today, it's practically T-shirt weather! I love the Winter-Spring transition time. As I played out on the back deck with the kiddos this morning a memory was brought back from growing up at the Acreage. One year around this time we built a walk-way out of plastic milk crates and boards over the snow and to the trampoline. We would go out in T-shirts, or shorts even, bare foot or socks, and just soak up the warm sun on the black surface of the trampoline, surrounded by snow. 

Today, we went out for some fresh air and our skins happily soaked up the suns rays while we relaxed on the back deck.

 Camilla cracked me up with her little toes.

 The sunshine was super bright!!

 We did some rocket-ship rides way up to the sky...

 I snuggled my little man (who's feeling much better today).

 Hyrum had fun in the swing and exploring on the deck. Camilla and I made snowballs to throw at the remains of our snowman. 

 Man, these two are getting way too big!!