Childhood Memories...or Not

"E.T." came out when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and is one of the few movies I remember seeing in the theater as a kid. Since M is that age now, we decided it would be fun to watch it again, so we checked it out from the library.

P & I remembered about 3 scenes from the movie: the Reeses pieces, E.T. hiding with the stuffed animals, and the flying bicycle scenes.

Wow, there was so much I didn't remember...like the swearing, for instance! I had no idea there was language like that in movies when I was a kid! Fortunately, M only commented once, "She just said God's name in vain." But there were other words, too...I was a little shocked!

I also didn't remember how intense the near-the-ending was, when it looks like E.T. died. The girls loved the very ending and M was jumping up and down with excitement, so I guess it all turned out alright.

It left me feeling pretty unsettled, though. I mean, what else from my childhood do I not remember, or not remember accurately?! Maybe my brothers didn't actually tease me, afterall?!

My New Book

At lunch yesterday, somehow the conversation turned to "Mommy should write a book." M was full of suggestions like, "How to Keep Your Kids Busy," to which I said, "That would be a short book! Suggestion #1: television. Suggestion #2: computer" which made her laugh.

E's suggestion was, "Mommy, since you are married, and when you get married, you have to give a kiss, I think that you should write a book about KISSING!"

Hmmm, again, I'm afraid that would be a pretty short book, too! Should've written that one twelve years ago (we've been married for eleven)! ;)

How Much Do You Pay Your Babysitter?

This is one of life's great quandries for me. I don't think I've ever asked a sitter, "How much do you charge?" and had them give me an answer other than, "Whatever you want to pay me."

I encountered that today. I called one of the 13 yr old girls from church and she wasn't available, but said her 15 yr old sister was. So, I talked to the big sis and told her I'd need her for about 1.5 hrs next Saturday. I asked how much she charged and got the "usual" answer. I said, "Ugh! I hate that! I don't want to underpay you! What do you usually get?" She said,

"For two kids, for about an hour, I usually get $20."

I about CROAKED. I stammered and said something to the effect of, "Well, I'm more used to paying $4-5/hr, and my kids are pretty self-sufficient. How would you feel about $10 or so?" I asked if it was still worth it to her and she said it was, so I guess we're on.

My gosh. My husband doesn't even make $20/hr! We're in the wrong field!!!

So, here is my big QOTD (Question Of The Day): How much do YOU pay your babysitters? Please include ages of your kids and the age of your usual sitter, 'cause I think those are important factors. Like, I'd pay more for babies/toddlers and more if the sitter were older, esp if she was driving herself over. And, I pay more if it's an all day affair. Anyway, I'm very curious to see how far off I am on my pay scale!

Thanks!

Prayer

The girls and I spent 24 hours with my grandmother this week (she lives about 2.5 hrs from us). She made an interesting comment as we sat down to a meal together. As we discussed saying a blessing on the food (she is Christian but not LDS) said, "When the kids were little, I taught them all to say this little grace, "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food." Then one time, we came to visit you guys at your house and your Daddy called on you to say the blessing and out of your mouth came the sweetest little prayer about thanking God for Grandma and Grandpa and it was just right from your heart and it was like you were just talking right to Him. I'd never heard anything like it before and it just touched me."

I've heard most of my grandma's stories before (grin) but this was a new one for me. I said, "Yes, we teach our children to open the prayer in the name of Heavenly Father, thank Him for things, ask Him for blessings we need, and to close in Jesus' name, but the rest is up to them." She then asked me to say the blessing on the food, so I did, and then of course, Maren and Elaina wanted to each say one, too. Those were well-blessed turkey sandwiches!

I am so grateful for the gift of prayer in my life. It is my understanding that other Christian faiths believe that God is silent, and it is hard for me to fathom that. I have always been taught (according to our LDS beliefs) that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants to hear me and speak to me, much like an earthly parent communicates to their child. I have had many experiences that have taught me that this is true. I am so glad that I can teach my children this same truth. It is a powerful thing to know that I am a child of God, He is my Father, and that we can communicate.

I've Been Tagged

I knew this day would arrive...

I've been tagged. Here are the rules:
A. The Rules are posted at the beginning
B. Each player answers about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people, posts their names, and goes to their blogs letting them know they've been tagged, and to please come visit and read my blog for the rules. So, here goes...

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. Teaching my third year at Wasatch Elementary in Provo, Utah
2. Married for 18 months
3. Recovering from my first miscarriage
4. Wondering if and where P would get into a graduate program
5. Serving in my eighth Relief Society Presidency

5 Things on My To-Do List Today
1. Go to church
2. Play piano for Primary (as a sub - I usually teach the 12 and 13 yr old girls)
3. Write Christmas thank you notes
4. Make cookies w/my girls
5. Give the girls a bath

5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Trail Mix
2. Fuji apple
3. Chocolate
4. Chocolate, nuts, toffee, and/or carmel
5. Popcorn

5 Things I'd Do If I Were a Billionaire
1. Fund research to find a cause & cure for autism
2. Buy a sweet house (with movers and unpackers to get us in there, and a housekeeper and a chef once we were there!)
3. Invest wisely
4. Fund our parents' retirements
5. Travel

3 Bad Habits (what, only three?!)
1. Staying up too late
2. Picking my hangnails
3. Grumbling in my head instead of speaking up

5 Places I've Lived
1. Kent, WA
2. Lake Forest Park, WA
3. Lynnwood, WA
4. Provo, UT
5. Astoria, OR

5 Jobs I've Had
1. Third Grade Teacher
2. Sixth Grade Teacher
3. Hospital cafeteria worker (motivation to stay in school!)
4. Receptionist/file clerk in medical office
5. Receptionist/scapegoat in oral surgeon's office

5 Things People Probably Don't Know About Me
1. My littlest toes are so weird...I only have a tiny bit of nail...makes polishing them almost impossible
2. I am unreasonably afraid of being alone (outside of my home) in the dark
3. Two reoccuring dreams: 1. my teeth fall out in chunks, 2. my daughters are really my sisters and my mom is really the mom of all 3 of us
4. I worry ALL THE TIME about all the stuff I'm not doing as a mom that I "should" be doing
5. I rarely get nervous speaking or performing in front of people. It's not that I'm ubersecure; I just figure they're all glad it's not them up there where I am!


Dang, that was kinda hard! I tag Brian, Chrissy, Rebecca D, Paige, and Becca R, with my apologies!

Where In the World is...

Yesterday, M was staring intently at a big map of the world. Finally, she said, "Mom, where is Arientar?" I said, "Arientar? Never heard of it."

She said, "You know, like, 'We three kings of Arientar!'"

Christmas (Eve) Morning

The girls knew that P had to work on Christmas, so we would plan on opening presents on Christmas Eve...as in p.m. since he's off on Sun/Mon. It was fun to see them wake up kinda squirmy and whiny about having to wait all day, and then to see their smiles when we told them they could actually go ahead and open away.

Sorry about the tiltled pic...it's vertical in my pictures file and I don't know what else to do. I wanted to share it, though, to point out the pink glittery gloves that E got in her stocking and wore to open ALL the rest of her presents. Here, she's hugging her new Webkinz. In the "loot" picture, M is holding her hand like that to show off her "real gold, real diamond" (thank you, Wal Mart) ring that "won't even turn my finger green and I can wear it in the bath and everything?!?"

They have really had fun the past few days with all their new stuff. Thanks to all who contributed! ;)