Kid's Music

The girls and I really enjoy listening to music. Fortunately, our public library has a great kids' music collection. There's a lot of great kids music out there but there is also a lot of bad kids music. So here are a few of our favorite artists. (By great I mean it doesn't annoy the heck out of you to listen to it with your kids, or that John will actually listen to it.)

Justin Roberts--we love all of his cd's that we've listened to so far. He has a great song called "Meltdown" where the kids meltdown and then the mom does too. I really related to this song. His music is a lot of rhythm, guitar and a little brass. But I have to say that I know most of the words to the songs we have and I don't mind when they go running through my head.

Laurie Berkner--Clever lyrics and great rhythm. Sometimes her music grows on you. At first I don't always love it, but after a few listens I always do.

Jessica Harper--Great rhythm and good lyrics. It is hard to listen to her music without tapping your feet.

Jon Lithgow--I know you're probably thinking, "Isn't he the Third Rock from the Sun guy?" And yes, he is. But he also has several children's cd's and they are hilarious. He redoes a lot of old big band songs and then has quite a few that he's written. His is big band style and he actually has a great voice. He is one of our favorites and even John likes his stuff. His voice always makes me want to laugh (in a good way).

VeggieTales--You gotta love these guys. We do. "We are the pirates who don't do anything", "Bald Bunny" and "Billy Joe McGuffrey"(otherwise known as John's life story) are our favorites. There's also a little ditty called "Steak and Shrimp" on the Jonah cd that John and the girls like to listen to over and over.

Anyway, there you have it, our kid's music picks. The girls also LOVE Disney's Cheetah Girls, but it is ultra girl power so if you don't have all girls in your house it might not go over as well. I actually had to give the girls the "boys are OK" talk after we had listened to this cd a little too much.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my little secret. There a website called emusic.com that is kind of like a napster thing. Anyway, they don't really have anything normal (by my standards, sorry if I've offended anyone) but funny enough they have a lot of kids music. I think they work mostly with independent labels and that's where a lot of kid's music gets made. Anyway they have an introductory deal where you can download so many songs for free. I did that and got a lot for my ipod that we really like and then I canceled so they really didn't make any money. Oh well at least they got some free advertising right here.

The Emma-verse

I'm sure if you read John's blog you've encountered the Emma-verse. I'm here to say that it is all true. And some day I'll be telling this tale behind bars. Here's an example:

One day we were running around in the car and we were listening to a children's cd from the library by Ella Jenkins. She's a folk singer from the 60's and does a lot of folk music. We listened to the whole cd and it was all right. BUT one of the songs had like a third verse that went something like "Kiss me Mama, Don't beat me Mama, Not a bucket to sell." So what thing do you think Emma chose to learn and repeat out of all 13 songs and 60 minutes of music. Her and Mary start singing this song and I'm not really paying attention in the car. Then we go into the grocery store and they both start singing that line over and over, very heartfelt, and Emma at the top of her lungs. Emma even threw in a few, "Beat me Mama, Don't kiss me, Mama" improvisations just for fun. I tried to be calm and ask them if we couldn't please sing something else. After a while they complied but I could tell that Emma really wanted to keep singing. Needless to say I got a few weird looks and the cd went back to the library. (I would just like to point out that I don't beat my children, although sometimes I'm tempted.)

Emma Cool

"I'm cool even when I sleep!!" That's my Emma. (She was totally out when this picture was taken. I took three pictures with really bright flash and it didn't phase her a bit.)

The orchid that started it all

This is the orchid corsage that John bought me for Mother's Day this year. We have a tradition that every Mother's Day John gets me an orchid (nature's perfect flower). It actually started the year before we were married. I think I had gone on one official date with John but I was playing baseball one Saturday and I was talking to him and he said to make sure that I was in church the following day. I said OK because I usually went and didn't think too much more about it. Later John called my apartment and asked the relief society president (my roommate Kaylyn) how many girls were in the ward. We thought that odd too, but we got over it. Well, the next day after sacrament meeting, our 1st counselor in the bishopric stood up and said that someone had anonymously donated orchid corsages for all the girls in the ward and that the elders would pass them out. We, as girls, were stunned. Kaylyn and I put 2 and 2 together and knew that that anonymous donor was John. No one else was nice enough or generous enough. We went home that day and Kaylyn said, "Someone in this apartment needs to marry that boy and it's not me! Tara call and ask that boy out." So I did (ask out and marry) and the rest is history.

(After John and I started dating, which only lasted about 3 weeks before we were engaged, I had it independently confirmed that he was the orchid man by two of his friends and the counselor in the bishopric. The conversation in each instance went something like, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but you know that John bought all those orchids, don't you? He's a really nice guy." I of course didn't need anyone to tell me that, but it is always good to hear.)

Mother's Day

The girls got me charms to go on my charm bracelet for Mother's Day. We took them to the mall and John let them each pick one out. Then we bought two of whatever they picked so that I could have one to represent them and they could have a matching one for their bracelet (I HAVE ALL GIRLS FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REMEMBER--THIS METHOD MAY NOT WORK IN EVERY FAMILY). That said, the girls loved it and so did I. I thought their choices were enlightening.

The first charm is mine and says "It's a girl thing" because that's the only kind of "things" we have in this family.

The next, a crown, is Kate's. She is the princess.

Mary's beautiful pink jewel studded flower shows her love for all things girl. (Her favorite phrase is Don't I look cute in this?)

The monkey with the banana is Emma's. Enough said. She was so excited about this charm that she ran out of the store with it to show me. (Luckily she was not arrested for shop-lifting).

The heart with wings is Ruth's. She does have a big heart. Just ask Emma the next time Ruth decks her and then gives her a BIG love saying sorry with all her heart. And she must have wings because I don't how else she gets to some of the places I find her. The other day I told her to go in the bedroom so we could change her diaper. When I followed her 3 min later she was laying on the changing table all ready. How did she get there? I feel it's better not to ask.

And John chose "I rule!" for Lily. She doesn't exactly rule our house but if she's anything like her sisters, she probably hopes to some day. Anyway, I love the bracelet. It is really fun!

"FUN" walk

Friday I went on a "FUN" walk at John's work. BYU has this whole program for employees and their spouses that's supposed to keep you healthy. Well, for part of it, every so often they have these fun walks around campus. I think they're something like a mile long. They start out down by the RB and go to upper campus and then come back down to where they started. This year, starting in September, you got something for each one you went to and the prizes get better for each consecutive one. Like I think for the first one we got some wristbands, then some hats, then some nice pedometers. This time we got some really nice water bottles.

Anyway we're really doing it because at the end you get like $30 in BYU foodservices gift certificates (each). We eat on campus a lot so why not? Plus it is relatively fun and the girls usually like it.

The last one was in the beginning of November when I was like 8 months pregnant. It was kind of hard because I was pushing Mary in the stroller. I remember being really sore.

This time though I was carrying Lily in a front baby carrier and pushing Mary in the stroller. It was tough. I'm not in very good shape but I thought if I did that every day I definitely would lose the weight and be buff. I was very sore after, in lots of weird places. But I made it and it was very nice outside (low 60's) and the girls really liked it. John carried Ruth on his back and pushed Emma in a stroller. I'm sure we were very funny looking but we had fun and it was a fun family (minus Kate who is in school--they have them at noonish) activity. Maybe next month I'll be in better shape.

Oh yeah. At the end they are supposed to have bananas and cookies and drinks but for the first couple of times we were too slow to get anything (they always run out). I'm proud to say that this time we at least made it for the cookies and we only barely missed the bananas. I think it was largely due to me no longer being pregnant. But maybe next time we'll make the bananas. There's always hope. Anyway it was lots of "FUN".

How did I get this old?

Now I know, I'm not really that old. I'm only 30, but it seems like just yesterday that I was only 20. Seriously, sometimes I think back and it doesn't seem that long ago that I was living in Pinegar and going to BYU. And yet, I look around me and I have 5 daughters, one about ready to be baptized, and have been married to John for almost 9 years. That's a long time, almost 1/3 of my life but I just don't feel that old.

For instance, I see all these newly married couples in my ward and I feel like I'm not that much older than them, and then they tell me when they graduated from high school, and I realize that I had 3 kids by then. It's so weird. One time this lady who I considered quite a bit older than me included me in her age group, as in "All of us in our 30's have to stick together..." (I was 28 at the time) and I said, "I'm not in my 30's" and she said, "Oh, I just assumed you were with 3 kids and all." I remember thinking, "I can't believe I'm almost as old as her. When did I get so old?"

Anyway, I guess it is Ok. I do have a sister who is almost 40 and a youngest sister who has 2 kids but sometimes I just have these moments when it seems a little surreal.

Payne family circus

Today I had to speak in sacrament. Now I don't mind speaking, in fact I thought it was going to give me a chance to really enjoy sacrament and listen without the kids all around me. But the hard part for me is preparing a talk(done in between baths for the girls, getting breakfast, finding dresses, etc.), actually making it to church on time (I walked in right as the organ played the last few bars of prelude music), and having my kids behave while I'm sitting on the stand and John is lone wolf in the pew.

First of all I had to run into church by myself because the girls were being kind of slow getting out of the car, and I was carrying the bag with stuff for the girls because John had to carry the car seat with Lily, and keep track of the other 4 and carry his scriptures. And I didn't really know where they were going to sit so I had to take it with me onto the stand, which made it hard for John to have any of the stuff that usually keeps them all relatively quiet and well behaved. Anyway, half way through sacrament Ruth made a run for me that John didn't even catch until it was already too late (Emma thought it was hilarious!!). She came up and sat with me (minus her shoes already) for about 30 seconds then wanted to go back to John. I managed to convince her to stay through the sacrament and then let her go because it was my turn to speak. Then John wasn't feeling well and had to make a quick exit while he was feeding Lily her bottle so he gave her to Kate and ran out.

I gave my talk and everything went OK, although Kate, Mary, and Emma all got up to go to the bathroom (led by Kate of course). One of my neighbors was in the bathroom at the same time and she said it was really funny because you could hear me speaking over the loud speaker, and hear Kate marshalling the troops in the stall. She said Kate had it all under control. She said it reminded her of her older sister who was 12 when she was born and was always the 2nd mom. She said, "Now I know what my sister must have sounded like at 7."

Anyway, after my talk was over, Ruth decided that running between mom on the stand and dad in the pew was a pretty fun game. John was trying to hold Lily but eventually gave her to the lady behind him (Kate was still in the bathroom) and made a quick exit with Ruth screaming. Later when they came back in Ruth still came back up to me but she stayed and looked at some things from the bag. She needed a diaper change but we forgot the wipes so she just hung out with me until after sacrament when I was able to borrow some from a kind neighbor.

All during church, I kept getting comments like, "We loved your talk, and your girls are soo cute!"

Yea, cute. If that's what you want to call it, go right ahead.

Memorizing

Last summer when I was in Buffalo, we as a family started memorizing the articles of faith. I think it came about because I read a story out of the Friend for a FHE lesson and it was about the articles of faith. I taught the girls the first one and they did pretty well. Then when we came home, Kate told me that the Primary was encouraging them to learn them as well and they got rewards if they passed them off to a member of the Primary presidency. So we kept going.

At first we would just repeat them line by line each night. Sometimes the girls would take turns leading out and I was amazed that even Emma did pretty well. She had those first couple down pat. We kept going and Kate kept doing really well, but Mary and Emma started to drop off a little. They had lost interest a little and the later AofF are kind of long with lots of big words. The primary told the kids that if they passed all of the AofF off by the end of the year they would get a bracelet. Kate was well on her way but the other girls wanted to do it too but they were further back. So in an attempt to help them, we learned the AofF songs from the children's song book. Mary and Emma loved(!!!!) that. We would sing the songs all together and then when I put them to bed we would practice again. They would sing the song by themselves as far as they could go and then I would help them finish. It was amazing!!! Mary and Emma both passed them all off and did most of them within two months.

Anyway, I'm not sure they'll remember all of them but it was a good start. It is just about the cutest thing ever to hear Emma sing in her high 3 year old voice her favorite: "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the ten tribes..." I know she doesn't really know what they mean, but she likes them. She is also partial to "We believe men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression." I think she has been punished for something her sisters did one too many times.

It is a testament to how smart kids really are. When I first started doing it, I just did it with Kate and Mary because I thought Emma was too little, but when Emma saw that they got stuff for memorizing them, she wouldn't let me leave her out. When we would go to pass them off, the primary lady would say, "Isn't she in nursery? Are you sure she wants to pass them off?" And Emma would say "Yea!!!" And she did.

When we finished, I would go to tuck Emma in and she would say, "Mom, you forgot to do our articles of faith." And I would say, "But we finished them remember?" She didn't care. She didn't realize there were only 13. So I decided to start the girls memorizing scripture mastery scriptures. I mean it can't hurt them. I made them some books with a big printout of the scripture and then I printed out the story that went with it from the illustrated scripture stories on LDS.org. and put them in the book too. And the girls are doing it but it is a little hard since there aren't really songs to go along (although I did find a website where a lady had put all the scripture mastery scriptures to music and it might be worth the money).

Anyway, so I went back to practicing with Emma before tucking her in at night, and pretty soon, since she and Ruth share a room, Ruth was yelling at me because I wasn't doing the same thing with her. So I tried it and wouldn't you know it, she can repeat too. She can't say it alone but she really likes to repeat and there's nothing sweeter than hearing scripture out of the mouth of a not quite 2 year old. It really is amazing.

Extraction

I haven't been getting much done as far as projects go lately. Lily is a good girl and she likes to sleep, but she likes to sleep best when I am holding her. She likes John too but apparantly John exceeds her heat threshold so when she wakes up from sleeping on his chest, she sometimes gets mad.

Anyway, I haven't been doing much but one of my New Year's goals was to do a little bit of name extraction every day. I've tried to do 15 minutes a day. Now for you who don't know what extraction is, it is when you take the names off records and record them for the church databases. I've been doing it off and on since Kate was a baby. When I first started it was all on the computer but you had to have someone in your ward come over and download the record onto the computer and then you would extract the names and give them a disk with what you had done, then take it back to your ward extractionist or trade with someone else to verify the other person's work, etc. It was kind of involved (though not as involved as working with microfiche machines or actually going to the places to find the records--I know I'm a technology age whiner). But now it is super easy and awesome because now it is all on the internet. Your stake extraction person sets you up with an account(or if you can't find one of those, you can just go to familysearchindexing.org) and you just log in whenever you want to and they download a record onto your computer and you're off to the races. Then when you're done, you just upload it and you're ready for the next one.

Anyway it is so fun. In fact it is so easy that it is kind of addicting. I sit down to just do a few names and end up doing a whole sheet (they are broken into groups of 50 names). I really have to force myself to stop.

Right now they are extracting the 1900 census. I've done names from New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Illinois. I even did a sheet from John's hometown, Tonawanda NY.

In the past I've also done extraction from 1600 English parrish records and Ohio and Washington death certificates from the 1940's. They were all very interesting. One time I did a death certificate for someone who had been mauled to death by a bear and you wouldn't believe how many people die in house fires.

Anyway it is super fun and interesting. I've really come to appreciate people who write clearly, but I've also come to appreciate the Spirit that helps you read some of the names (because some are near impossible). It really makes me feel linked to the past.

Anyway if you're looking for a hobby, I would highly recommend it.