Mother's Day

And again

Liam got up and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting today.  I was so humbled by his courage and ease of speech up there.  He bore testimony of the sacrament bread and water and what they represented and then closed in the name of Jesus Christ.  I love how sincere he is.

Spring

Liam's Music Program

St. George Metal Detection

Love from my boy

Liam made this for me while waiting for the bus (with his dad's Note II). I've got a great kiddo!

My fine gentleman

Yesterday morning Liam had apparently set an internal goal to not sass for a whole day.  He got ready for school with no issues, no yelling, and no sassing.  We were impressed.  I even said to Ian, “What did you do differently this morning?  He is so great!”  He replied with a reality check, “Gina, it’s only one day.”  Um, yes, I guess that is right, but he later came home from school with a “super” rating and then the rest of the night he was a dream child.  He listened to my requests and would say okay instead of the normal belligerence.

It was so wonderful! 

He politely asked me after I got home from work if he could do his Thursday and Friday chores so he could get his allowance early.  I thought about it and complied.  He then asked politely if we had time to go to Target to get a new Skylander figure for his video game.  He had finally saved enough for it!  I said if he could get all his chores done in 30 minutes then we could go.

And he did.

And we did.

From Target we went over to Pei Wei to have his favorite noodle dish and had a nice conversation and here is a fraction of it:  He said, “You know how when I get a “super” at school that you will snuggle me?”  I said, “Yes.”  He went on, “Well I wonder if I am getting kind of too old for snuggling at night.”  This made me smile a big smile.  I said, “You know, Liam, all ages of kids grow out of all kinds of things at different times. It is up to you.  And we don’t JUST snuggle – we talk to each other too.”  He nodded as he considered that and agreed saying, “That is true.”

Now, I don’t know if he’ll suddenly be okay with no snuggle time at night, but this is surely a sign that it may be phasing out in the coming weeks, months, or years.  IF it does phase out, I will miss our sweet pillow talks.  Wonderful information, curiosities, and teaching moments come to the surface when it’s time to say good-night.

Bros Gotta Stick Together

Liam and his two buddies, Gavin and JJ, were out playing around today in the nice weather... after a couple hours of playing Liam finally comes in for the evening and announces he got hurt on his knee, "gushed" blood, and his friends rushed to the office to get him a bandage. (Why they didn't get a parent is beyond me.) JJ (12) put the bandage on him and Liam says, "I am even so lucky to have you guys!" 

Holy sweetness! Love that little trio. They call each other brothers. Sure will miss them when we all get out of this communal living situation.

One blessed child

I just have to say that the past month or two Liam has had a pretty nice perk each morning.  Well since September I guess - when we took him out of daycare.  So now a days he's got this dad of his who comes home from a night shift job at 7am AND THEN rolls his reluctant son out of bed to get him ready to catch the bus on time.  So that is great enough, but recently Dad has taken it up a notch and goes to the kitchen to make pancakes with sprinkles and then sits at the table with his boy (most mornings) and chats while he stuffs his face.  Sometimes Ian will read Liam's Zoobooks magazine to him and they discuss different kinds of animal life.  And sometimes they just act goofy and the conversation is pretty ridiculous... Well, at least it is from my perspective... as the grumpy bloodshot eyed mom.  I am not a morning person - and they apparently are.  And I am so glad they have each other.  Really glad.  It takes enough energy for me to get them reverent long enough to say family prayer and get out the door.

In other news, the past two weeks Ian has taken Liam skiing at Brighton.  The father and son time is paying off... their relationship and cooperation skills have gotten even better in the mornings.  Very proud of those boys.  I love them very very much!

(I forgot to mention that Ian has taught Liam how to pour and flip the pancakes this past week... Liam thinks he's hot stuff.)

Love Note from Liam's Primary Leader

I received this email last night.  I knew he did a great job at church, but to get it in writing meant so much to me. 

 

From:	Jennifer Tanner
Sent:	Sun 1/27/13 11:15 PM
To:	Gina Peterson (ihartpartly@hotmail.com)

Hey Gina,

I just wanted to send you a quick note about how awesome I think your boy is. Today in sharing time, we played a game where the kids drew word strip "choices" out of a bag, then we talked about what could happen as a result of those choices. We talked about scenarios like

·         "You break something really important to your mom, and then you hide it."

·         "Some friends are making fun of a kid at school, and you tell them to stop."

·         "You see someone drop their things on the ground, and you help pick them up."

I thought it was interesting that for most of the kids, their reasons for not doing bad things were usually to avoid getting in trouble, and their reasons for doing good things were usually to feel good about themselves. For Liam, though, his answers were the most empathetic of any of the kids -- out of both junior and senior Primary. In the various times he participated, he talked about the importance of being honest, and of the way your mom would feel if you were upfront with her versus if she found the broken item on her own. He also talked about how the other kid would feel better if you defended them, and how if you helped someone pick up their things they would feel grateful. To him, they seemed like such simple, obvious ideas. I'm so impressed with how mindful he always is of the way someone else might feel, even at an age where most kids tend to only be self-centered. You are raising such a great kid.

love, Jen

 

From:	Gina Peterson (ihartpartly@hotmail.com)
Sent:	Sun 1/27/13 11:09 PM
To:	Jennifer Tanner

Jen,

This email was so thoughtful and so tender of you to send. I am crying right now. Thank you for reaching out to me and helping me see how good he truly is. I know he's got a heart of gold, but I don't get to see a lot of his social interactions at school and church. I worry immensely about how he fosters his friendships and relationships outside of the home. I am told time and time again that ADHD kids have zero friends by the time they reach 3rd grade. These observations mean so much to me. I will worry less about this particular issue from now on.

Much much love and appreciation,
Gina

Happy New Year!

We didn't have any plans for New Year's Eve - we generally don't.  BUT Ian and I got itchy and tried to get a sitter at the last minute to no avail.  We ended up getting in the car as a family and going on a great goose chase for a Tepanyaki type of place.  After a lot of gallivanting around town, we found one that didn't have a line going out the door - the Bonsai Japanese Steakhouse.  Liam had his Ninjago sticker book in hand to keep him busy, but our chef ended up being one of THE most entertaining we've had. He did all the regular tricks AND made us laugh with all his great jokes!  We all had a great time! And the food was scrumptious - so perfectly yummy!

 Waiting for our grill table - only 5 minutes.

I had forgotten that Ian had ordered us some sky lanterns to send up into the sky for New Year's Eve.  We had ten in all, so I asked him if we should call the Williams family - our neighbors - to see if they would join in the fun.  Sure enough they were game and we had a great time freezing our fingers off and sending up wishes for the new year!  Such a grand sight.  Way better than fireworks!  A hearty thanks to Daddy for making it happen - he is so thoughtful and fun!

 

  

 Gavin, Preslie, and Liam

 

 
Aren't they beautiful?

Reading in bed

Ninjago pajamas, Ninjago chapter book. All is well in Liam's world.

Rock Wall Climbing

A rock climbing lesson for both of us today. I did the belaying. He got to the top many times and even knows how to tie the knot in that thick rope. 

Go Liam!

 

Brighton Ski School

Christmas Morning 2012

All his wishes came true!

Christmas Eve 2012

Great day. Ian made Christmas tree pancakes, went to see Rise of the Guardians, faced a white out blizzard to the grocery store, cleaned up Liam's room (which is hosting our Christmas tree) and went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and games. More blizzard on the way home, read half of a Christmas chapter book, snuggled Liam to sleep, wrapped presents, and now we are ready for Santa to come!

Making Snow

We made snowflakes tonight and Liam got it down! I love the detailed designs he made. Plastered them all on the neighbor's (Casey and Kim) door with a note to say we made snow for them for Christmas! So fun!!!

Called them the next morning - THEY LOVED IT! Said it was the best Christmas gift ever! And wouldn't you know it, they left tons of goodies on our porch the next morning!

Cousins are so boring

3 hours of snow cave creation

I bought this for Liam’s birthday this year. We read it last night for the first time. Best little chapter book in the world! We about laughed our big heads off! Great stories of a real 7 year old and how he learned important values the year before he was baptized. Highly recommend to any 6 or 7 year old out there!

Happy Halloween