Category Archives: Calvin
During an FHE discussion of the meaning of personal peace:
Calvin observed: It’s so much easier to relax when you’re eating ice cream.
He is really coming into his own. His head is full of deep thoughts that he shares on occasion with startling candor. His heart is the most golden of any child I’ve ever encountered. His faith is perfect, his kindness sincere. He’s discovering that he is a big kid, able to use his body for great adventure . . . climbing, running, jumping, riding. He still is in love with his mamma and daddy, and asks for cuddles as a favorite pass time.
This is my little boy in March.
Today he came in alone, talking out loud.”Who are you talking to?” I asked. “Oh, Heavenly Father” was his casual reply.
Yesterday with the sunshine embracing us, and despite the cold weather, Calvin and Daddy decided to practice riding his bike again. In only one or two turns Cal told his Daddy: “Let go of me, don’t hold on!” And just like that, he was off, riding his bike, even into the dip. He has found the freedom that will be his for all of his youth.
A few weeks ago we sat in church. A very nice musical number was played intermittent to the talks. When it was over, Cal came over to me, looked up, and with a soft voice said: “That music was so beautiful, it made me cry.”
In companion to riding his bike, Calvin discovered that he can climb trees. He and Olivia have discovered that the neighbor to the East has a tree just the right size for their climbing abilities, and they are in it constantly. I have to scold them every once in a while to stay out of the tree (I don’t know those neighbors particularly well), but at the same time, it warms my heart to see my children in it’s spread branches. I spent hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours in trees growing up, and was an active climber well into college, so of course I’m thrilled to see my kids finding such a great activity to fill their time.
Last night Calvin turned to me, shovel in hand, grin spread ear to ear, and said: “Mommy, I’m going to dig straight! Straight to China!”
A few minutes later Calvin had made — a hole — and as I approached to take a picture of his efforts I overheard Olivia tell him “I’m so proud of you for digging such a big hole!” – And I am proud of him too!
 “You forgot the question mark” was the first thing he said when he saw it.
“No I didn’t. It’s more of a statement than a question.”
On Monday they spent the afternoon preparing our valentines – signing their names, over and over and over again, each one for a different friend.
 For Family Home Evening we made sugar cookies, and decorated them with pink frosting. Each love frosted their own. Everett had patience for only one shmear and set about eating his. Olivia made sure the frosting covered all the cookie real estate in neat even strokes. And Calvin spread his thick, thick and globby.
The next morning, with Olivia at her kindergarten party, valentines autographed from the day before, a special treat for her teacher to boot, and Cal and eJo happy to play with Ila who came to visit, we set about making more cookies. Because who doesn’t need more cookies?
Chocolate chip to be exact, Wyatt’s favorite.
Later, Olivia, Calvin, Everett (and Ila) went to a neighborhood valentines party. More signed goodies, more treats coming home!  During the break I took Wyatt a little gift of home made cookies. We promised no valentines – but home made definitely does not count. (And then he broke the treaty and brought me home tulips. Two Lips – it makes me smile).
 And then the little loves finished their party, and home we went for a sugar crash. Daddy came home early to play, and with a little dinner in our tummies, we set out to give valentines to all the friends in the neighborhood we had missed.
And when it came bed time the kids went to sleep without a peep, happy and high on sugar, exhausted on activity.
That was Valentines Day 2012.
Today there was little art piece in my fridge – a red paper with a child’s doodle. For some reason I didn’t think too much of it, until Calvin came climbing underneath to the fridge shelf to check on it.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It’s a picture of a snowman. I put it in here so it won’t melt.”
Calvin and Everett were fighting in the car. Calvin was whining at the top of his lungs:
“He won’t give me personal space, he won’t give me personal space!”
I turned around to see Everett sitting in his seat, but turned around, looking at Calvin. Next it will be “stop breathing my air!” Good grief.
Yesterday I decided a little deep cleaning before the holidays would be a good idea. I set about on my kitchen – cleaning out all the cabinets, wiping the insides and outsides down, and rearranging their contents back in. Later in the afternoon, after having spent the day hard at work, Calvin came in as the contents of the fridge were unloaded, all the shelves and drawers drying on the table from being washed.
Calvin said: “Mom, what are you doing?”
“I’m cleaning out the fridge” I said, a little proud of myself.
“Oh, well that’s not what I would be doing if I were you.”
“What would you be doing?” I asked – I should have know better.
“Well, I would be playing with my kids.”
Suddenly my clean fridge and cabinets did not seem so spectacular.
Point taken.
Today we’re going to do Thanksgiving and Christmas art projects to our hearts content.
I bet the kitchen gets really messy.
as a herse goes by . . .
Because, well, you know.
My boy Cal has started preschool. While I consider today his “first day” there have been a couple prior events that were important too.
 1) Back to school night – we got to go meet his teacher, Miss Sheri, and see his classroom and all the fun things there are!
2) “First Day of School” (but I don’t count it) where the parents are invited to attend as well. It was more of an open house to let the children play while the parents are able to get to know one another. I had my sister come babysit Ejo & Roo while Cal and I went to this. Afterward we went to McD’s for Happy Meals and ice cream cones. Did you know McD’s won’t serve happy meals before 11:00? LAME!
So Cal settled for a sausage McMuffin, which is not the same. But we enjoyed ourselves all the same.
3) Today – Cal’s first, real, drop him off and wave good-bye, day of school.
It was a mixed emotion for me. I’ve always planned to hold Cal back a grade, his birthday is the end of July. So by going into preschool now, he’ll have two years of preschool, instead of the one that Olivia had.
I chose to only have O go to one year of preschool because I felt (and still do) that kids need as much time with their mamma’s as they can get. There will be plenty of time for school and real-world later.
But with Calvin, I chose to send him now, even though it will probably work out that he does two years . . .
I made a different decision for him because there are no other boys, or children for that matter that are his age in our entire ward. His primary class consists of him, and one other boy whose family actually lives in Herriman. Calvin has had a lot of fun playing with his older sister, and her friends, these past four years, but with her going to school daily now, and him getting older, I think he needs to find some other friends his own age and start learning the social graces of four year old boys.
He has been so excited for school. Last week we went school shopping for him. He loved that part. And this morning he wanted to take his treasure box to show Miss Sheri. She was appropriately thrilled. I am so excited for him to have this new adventure that is all about him. 
At the same time, those couple hours he was gone were so weird! I kept wondering: “Where is Cal? What’s he getting into? Why is it so quiet?” Oh dear, it was strange. I missed my fun little boy with that mischievous grin and heart of gold.
Calvin: Mommy, it takes a long time for you tummy to get small. As long as it takes for a new baby to get here.
Me: You’re right. But my tummy is already a little smaller right? (I mean, didn’t he notice?!)
Calvin: Yeah, (then, pointing directly at my chest) but those aren’t smaller!
Conversation between Olivia and an older couple admiring baby Andrew and baby Mason:
Old man: Those are sure cute babies. Where can my wife get one of those?
Olivia, matter-of-factly and nonchalantly: At the tummy store.
Calvin and Alexa after primary:
Calvin: Alexa, we learned about sharing in primary today. It’s important to share.
Alexa: Really? (Alexa’s mom is Cal’s teacher, and she knew that the lesson was on friends, not sharing.)
Calvin: Yeah. So you should share your candy bar with me. It’s good to share.
(All I can say to this story is: Is that Wyatt’s kid or what?!)
Calvin seems to have (FINALLY) moved out of the stage where he needs constant supervision. He seems to know the rules, and doesn’t destroy everything in his path (very often). But just as he’s moved out of that stage, Everett is moving right on in.
Last week I was upstairs feeding the baby, while everyone else was downstairs. When I came out, I heard water on. I went into my bathroom to find the water on, the sink clogged and water spilling over the sides, down the cabinet and onto the floor.
I went downstairs to find Wyatt and found that it was raining in my downstair bathroom (directly below the upstairs one).
Last Saturday night Wyatt and I went downstairs after the kids were “in bed.” When we came upstairs we found a trail of Fruit Loops down the hall, culminating in an entire spilled box in front of my bedroom door.
The next morning I was half asleep, but heard Calvin and Everett get up. Remembering what happened the night before, I got up, and went and tied up the cupboards and fridge, before returning to bed to sleep in.
Later Wyatt got up and got the kids breakfast – cereal and milk. But he forgot to tie up the fridge when he was done.
Later he found Everett, covered head to toe in sour cream, an entire block of cheese in his room, and an entire box of margarine (that I had just bought the night before for Dutch Oven Brownies that we were supposed to have later that day) in various clumps around the house.
Well, lovely Wyatt cleaned the boy and mess up, but he forgot, again to tie up the fridge. Later, just as it was time to get ready for church, I came around the corner to find eJo happily cracking the last of a dozen eggs on my kitchen floor.
Good times.
 As a final hurrah we went to the Dinosaur Museum one last time. It was, as always, tons of fun. Afterward we got ice cream played in a kid water feature that I never knew existed until Emmett showed it to us. Lovely end to summer.
This year Olivia will start kindergarten. I’ve already spent my tears on this reality.
Not only that, but my buddy, SuperCal will start pre-school. I will miss him so much.
So it has been a busy two weeks trying to get them both ready for their new adventures while taking time to enjoy my little Roo and also their last few days of freedom.
I started a tradition last year of a back to school dinner. It was a lot of fun to do last year, and so I planned another one this year. But, are you surprised, it was even BIGGER this year!
The theme for our 2011-2012 school year is “Seek Learning” from the D&C – because the first step in education is wanting to be educated. I know Olivia and Calvin both have a thirst for knowledge and a pride in their progress, so I think this will be a great focus for our year.
This year’s dinner featured:
Lime Chicken Tacos
Spanish Rice
Summer Salsa
Corn on the Cob
Watermelon
Raspberry Lemonade (real raspberry lemonade)
& Summer Peach Pie a’la mode.
YUM.
 Our theme is "Seek Learning"  I decorated the table with all things kids - and I laughed at this vignette.  Our beautiful flowers were provided by my dad.  Our table with Olivia & Cal's back to school gifts - friendship balls. (I made the gift boxes myself!)  Olivia and Cal opening their gifts.  Kids in their back to school crowns.  Something was funny . . .
You are such a wonderful boy! Goodness but how you can make my heart glow or my blood pressure rise. I love your laughter, your need to always be dirty, and your absolute pleasure in worms and snails. I’m grateful for the goodness of your heart, for your kindness to your brother and sister, for your patience with me. I have so many hopes and dreams for you. But today I want to focus on the now of dear and loved four year old you.
 Calvin started swimming lessons today. Olivia would have too, but you know, impetigo.
 Anyhow, he did great – blowing bubbles, floating on his back, smiling for his mamma when she wanted a picture. Mmm . . . sunshine and babies. Is there anything better?
Wyatt came home early, ready to play! We rode 4 wheelers up and down the street and around the neighborhood looking for people to play. We found Jill and Alan, who came over and had home made ice cream in the shade of the tree, and the kids ran around playing freeze tag in the sweltering heat.
 Later we decided a small fishing trip was in order. We packed Calvin’s new pole, and the other gear, and decided to try our luck at the Discover Park pond – which is about a mile down the street from grandma’s house.
  As it turned out we had great luck. We caught no less than four fish (maybe more, there was part where I left and took Olivia and eJo to the playground, leaving Wyatt and Cal to do their thing).
 Each fish was admired for what it was: TINY.
 
The kids enjoying torturing each fish with pokes, and prods before throwing it victoriously back into the pond.
 Wyatt enjoyed being stuck by flying fishing hooks a couple times, and mamma enjoyed keeping the kids from falling in the lake (Cal did fall in up to his knees, thus the under-roo pictures later).
 Afterward we went to grandma’s house for a jump on the trampoline and Moose Tracks ice cream cones. I have a theory that the amount of crud on your face at the end of the day is in direct correlation with the awesomeness of the day. As you can see, it was an awesome day for these kiddos.
I am home from church today with Olivia, who is sick (the annual bout of Impetigo).
So I started my pot roast, and loaded the dishwasher. (Because Saturday is a special day, but we’re not always completely ready for Sunday).
And when I was done loading the dishwasher, I went to put in the detergent (I use Electrasol Tabs from Costco), and then . . .
Calvin wasn’t there to put it in. I had to do it myself.
And that made me sad in a sentimental sort of way.
Because ever since he was a wee little thing, toddling around behind me, he has put the detergent tab in. He would sit patiently and wait while I loaded, then as soon as I pulled the soap out, he would run over, take it from me, place it in it’s little compartment, close the compartment door, close the dishwasher, and push the power on button. It has been his thing ever since.
And I love having little shadows under foot, just waiting for their chance to be a big helper. And it should always be remembered that Calvin put the detergent in the dishwasher.
On Monday; when the sun is hot
I wonder to myself a lot:
“Now is it true, or is it not,
“That what is which and which is what?”
On Tuesday, when it hails and snows,
The feeling on me grows and grows
That hardly anybody knows
If those are these or these are those.
On Wednesday, when the sky is blue,
And I have nothing else to do,
I sometimes wonder if it’s true
That who is what and what is who.
On Thursday, when it starts to freeze
And hoar-frost twinkles on the trees,
How very readily one sees
That these are whose — but whose are these?
On Friday—–
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” said Kanga, not waiting to hear what happened on Friday.
Remember a few years ago, when I first found out SuperCal was on his way? I was so overwhelmed . . . what would I do with a boy?!
Turns out Boys are a TON of Fun! Whether it’s being met at the door with a handful of worms, or searching the car for three days for “what on earth is making that smell!?” only to be asked by Calvin as we’re in the car – “Mom, did you take my pet snail?”
Boys are fun. They are full of adventure and good nature. They are skinned knees and big tears and bigger grins. They take giant bites of everything. They act first, think later. They have hearts of gold.
They really are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. And I love having two. I can’t wait to have three!
Calvin’s teacher told me today:
“We were talking about Heavenly Father, and I asked Calvin what he liked about Heavenly Father.”
He cocked his head to the side, gave a thoughtful hmmm, and replied, “I like that he made Home Depot.”
Wyatt came home as I was making dinner. Calvin and Everett gave him his usual rock star greeting, but one child was missing. Wyatt went to find Olivia.
He found her down in her new room, laying on the floor, on her tummy, looking over a book.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Reading my scriptures of course. This is my favorite part.”
She had her (illustrated) scriptures open to 3rd Nephi, where Jesus appears among the Nephites.
If you have a hankerin’ for S’mores
And bedtime stories by the fire
And the company of a trusty ol’ pal
And a brother
If you want to sleep in a bag right on the ground . . . but the spring weather just won’t cooperate . . .
Try camping in the living room.
This camp out brought to you by fire-maker-tent-setter-upper (and-taker-downer) Extrodinaire : Super Dad.
 Friday was Zoo Day for Olivia’s preschool.
She was very excited. She got to wear a special zoo day shirt (to help teachers keep track of kids) and bring her own lunch (a Lunchable, no less, Olivia has only been asking me to get her one of those for like, forever. I am cool mom).
 Parents were more than welcome to come, in fact, you could volunteer and get in free. But I didn’t commit. I didn’t mention it to the other kids. The weather was forcasted as “ify” at best. And, well, I’m 23 weeks pregnant. I tried to play it smart.
But Friday came full of sunshine (deceiving, because it was cold!) so I announced to Calvin that we were all going to the zoo!
We packed up, loaded the wagon, and headed to the zoo in great excitement (got there 25 minutes early).
But I was confused at Calvin’s lack of enthusiasm. Didn’t he get it? Didn’t he understand that we were GOING TO THE ZOO?
I finally asked him, “Calvin, don’t you remember when we went to the zoo?”
The last time we went was October 1st, 2009 – I remember because it was Everett’s due date, and we walked and walked around that zoo, hoping it would push me into labor. It didn’t.
After that our zoo pass expired, and we haven’t been back since.
“No.” Calvin said. I was shocked. I mean, we had a pass, we went like fifteen times in 2009!
But then I thought about it – he was barely two that summer. I guess it made sense.
 So I turned to Olivia, surely she would remember, as a three, almost four year old.
“Remember when we used to go to the zoo?”
She thought about it. “No.”
 So apparently all those engaging, entertaining activities I try to do on a semi-regular basis for my kids – they’re all for naught. Give it a little time and my kids will believe their entire childhoods were completely deprived!
Well, we bought another pass. We’ll go at least fifteen times this summer. And maybe, just maybe, Everett will remember it in a few years.
Saturday is supposed to be Wyatt’s night to cook. This past week was week four of our little arrangement, and he had yet to make dinner once. At six o’clock I gently reminded him that he needed to make dinner, at which he said “Well, I can’t be 100%!”
And I laughed, and said, “Yeah, but you should at least manage 25%”
At six fifteen he announced that he was taking us out to dinner.
But the kids were happily playing with play-doh at the table, no one had shoes or socks, or hair done. I was still in my jammies . . .
At seven o’clock I just finally stood up and made some corn dogs and veggies for dinner.
And that has nothing to do with the story I was going to tell . . .
So this is the story:
Since we didn’t go to dinner, Wyatt said we could go get treats. So we put on shoes and socks (and clothes) and headed out to our favorite fro-yo shop. But just before that, Calvin went to time out for something or other – and it was like his fifth time out that day (he was having a hard day) but then he let himself out of time out and went to go play.
AND THEN Wyatt found my camera on the floor of Ejo’s room. Cal got it down and played with it – #1 Cardinal rule in our house – no one touches mom’s camera (The kids are actually VERY good about this rule. I think the fact that they’ve been told so many times, in combo with the fact that the camera is always around, makes it so they just don’t usually bother it. This is like the second time EVER that one of the kids has touched it). Then we found out he also got into dad’s drawers -#2 Rule – stay out of Dad’s stuff.
AND SO – All of the above made Calvin a little boy in deep trouble. Wyatt told him there would be no ice-cream for him tonight.
Our favorite fro-yo shop is a place where you choose your own flavor of ice cream, and heap your own toppings on according to your desires (Cake batter, Reeses Pieces and Cheesecake chunks for me). It is an extra special treat when the kids go because there are rainbow sprinkles and Swedish fish and everything a little kid could love.
So we helped Olivia get her ice cream, and each got our own, and then we walked back to the table, where Calvin was sitting.
And his face just melted. His eyes welled up with fat heavy tears, and his lip curled out in heartbroken distress. And he said in his most pathetic voice “But I want ice cream.”
And you know me, I’m pretty much heartless when it comes to discipline. If it’s no, that’s the end of it. I don’t really care how much you whine or complain.
But it broke my heart. It might be the first time I ever reconsidered. I really wanted to share my ice cream with this broken hearted boy. He wasn’t whining. He wasn’t throwing a tantrum. He was just sad.
And then I remembered my parenting class (yes, I’ve taken one, because hey – I don’t know this stuff). And they said: it is important for kids to learn the reality of consequences when the consequences are inconsequential. Not getting ice cream because you broke the rules is nothing compared to getting arrested because you broke the law.
And so I stuck to my guns. But I ate my ice cream as fast as I could, and hurried out of there so my little Super Cal didn’t have to be tortured any longer (or so I didn’t have to be tortured?).
It was no fun. And I’ll always remember that face of pure tragedy. Oh, my mother heart, how sad.
Marsha came over yesterday to tell me this story about Olivia:
Marsha had given the Primary sharing time lesson about the resurrection, a heavy topic at any age, let alone the young children. To lead up to the resurrection, she had to tell about the crucifixion. Again, very heavy.
At one point she asked a question, and Olivia raised her hand. I’m not sure how or if her answer correlated to what they were talking about, but Olivia shared the story of last week, when she was having a hard time, and she went to a quiet place and said a prayer to Heavenly Father, and she felt he answered her prayer (I need to write that story down too – but probably not on the blog).
That was a nice thing of Olivia to share, and Marsha was proud of Olivia for being brave and sharing that personal moment with her fellow primary classmates.
Then, after Marsha had finished her Sharing Time, as she was gathering her things to put away, Olivia came up behind her and tugged on her dress.
Marsha turned around to see Olivia looking intently up at her. She said:
“Thank you. I was really listening.”
And Marsha was touched, and as she shared the story with me, I was touched. Olivia has such a tender heart.
Now, lest you think I’m going to tell a story about Calvin being naughty, and Olivia being an angel – think again!
Because Calvin is . . . well, Calvin.
And Who Calvin Is is a boy with a tender heart and shocking sensitivity to others.
And yesterday he came to me, as I sat on the couch, and looked up at me and said:
“Mom, I want to bear my testimony.”
And I looked up to see his eyes big, and happy. And I listened as he shared with me his little testimony – that Heavenly Father loves him, and Jesus loves him. And his mom and dad love him. And he loves his keys.
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