Easter at the Larsen's

So, Easter was so fun this year. I didn't really make any plans, after the fact of wrestling eggs out of the other shoppers hands, so I was glad when Grandma Larsen called and suggested coloring the eggs at her house after the town Easter Egg Hunt. It was a blast! The kids really didn't stay at the coloring for very long, but I had a blast checking out all the newest coloring techniques with Aunt Brooke and Grandma. Kodie even found new ways to use the little stickers that were included in the box.
After we colored all the eggs, we jetted to Wal-mart to see the Easter Bunny. Kaden was fine with sitting by him for pictures, but Mckay didn't want anything to do with it. So, of course, being the great mother that I am, I forced him to sit next to the giant pink bunny by holding him on my lap. Oh, what great childhood memories I am instilling in my kids!!??
Then we went down to the farm and hid the 5 dozen colorful eggs in every nook and cranny that we could find, including all over the "Easter Egg Tractor". It was really fun to watch the anticipation on the kids faces as we opened the door. During the hunt, Kaden was told to back off and let the "little kids" have a chance to get some eggs, so he went around the farm right in front of the "little kids" and hid eggs out of his basket so they would get more. I have such good kids. He was so thoughtful. He even went over to his brothers basket and noticed that he didn't have very many either, and he gave him some of his as well. It's amazing how greedy you can get over a $2.00 pack of hard boiled eggs when all those colors and sparkles are all over them. It was so fun to color them and hide them, but it was even funner to watch them find them and eat them.
After we had an overdose of boiled eggs and candy, we decided to burn a hot dog (literally, that's the way we like them) and have lunch. It was fun to sit around and make memories with family. I think it's a waste of a day if no memories are being made.
The next day we went to Payson to see Uncle Paul(Barton) be ordained Bishop of the Payson Mountain View 3rd Ward. It was neat to see him given this honor. He is so personable and talkative that he will do great with this. Then we went back to Grandma Ross' house for more food. It was so great to be surrounded with family. I totally get why I have such a problem with food. It seems that the best times, the most comfortable time is with family and food. Mckay did have a little challenge with his behavior while we were there though. I made the mistake of leaving my Cadbury mini eggs out on the cupboard and he decided to eat half the bag. We took him off dairy for his behavior just to see if it would help. The change was so immediately apparent that we decided to keep him off for a while. I totally dropped the ball with this one! Then to add insult upon injury, we gave him Benadryl for his allergies right before we left! Big mistake, Huge! He was jittery and detached until we got some food in to him. It was pretty fun (not really) to "show" how well he has been doing lately. I'm just glad that I have a very understanding family that backs our decisions in life, no matter how crazy they sound.
Our next adventure on our quest to find a memory will be to go and visit family up North, and on the way, I think that we will either stop at the Aquarium, or to Hogle Zoo just for fun. We'll see I guess. After all, that's what life is all about, right??!!

Kaden and the bullies

So, I really need to blog this morning about Kaden and his experience at scouts the last three weeks. I thought that these boys that go to church, school, and scouts with him were good kids, but I was totally wrong! Even the newest member of scouts was really awful to my son!
It's a life long story, and unfortunately the results of bullying are becoming more and more severe as time goes on. Things are different now than when I was getting bullied as a kid, and I'm afraid that the repercussions are getting more violent as well.
Kaden's leader called me during scouts and told me that she didn't know what else to do to help him. She said that the kids were outside teasing him about his bike while we spoke. She then said that she had to go because he was coming in crying to her and she had to deal with it. My car couldn't drive fast enough to get the three blocks to her house.
As I got there, one of his "friends" were finally giving up for the day, and I stopped to ask him who was bullying Kaden, and he proceeded to say, "everyone but me". I reminded him ever so bluntly that I had just got off the phone with his leader and she said that he was one of the worst instigators of them all. He then said "oh yeah, rriiighttt"!!! That just threw me into a tizzy!! I wanted to get even with all the bullies that used to tease me at that age, but being in the Primary Presidency, I refrained from kicking him in the mouth, and I simply said, "how do you think that your mom would feel about Kaden if you went home and said that he was picking on you?" He said,"bad". Then I said "o.k., next time you even think about picking on MY SON, I think you need to think about how his mom would feel to hear this!"
I sent him on his way unharmed (for now) and went into the leaders house to find a shriveled up shell of my son, crying hysterically. Not about being teased, but about being so different! He made the comment that he just wanted to stand in the middle of the road and wait for a car to "just run him over" so that this would stop.
Now, being teased myself at that age, quite harshly I might add, how do I deal with his feelings, when I haven't dealt with mine yet. It breaks my heart that you can no longer wear your heart on your sleeve, but instead you have to have it so protected and "numb" that horrible things are thought, or worse, acted upon.
I can't help to think of the story of the little boy that was walking home with what looked like the entire contents of his locker. There were 3 or 4 boys around him, teasing him so harshly. Another boy that just moved in around the corner just happened to come upon this little session and stepped up to help this boy in need. He helped him home and then invited him to go and hang out at the park with him and a couple of friends. He reluctantly agreed, not knowing what to expect. He had a great time, and a great long lasting friendship.
Time went on, and the two boys became very good friends. They went to college and were about to graduate. The boy that was being picked on had developed into a fine looking young man. He was valedictorian and at the top of the class. While he was giving his speech, he talked only about this hero of a friend that literally saved his life and continued to read from his journal.
"I cleaned out my locker today. I can't handle getting teased any more. I am going to kill myself today, and I don't want my mom to have to go to the school and clean out my locker herself."
With that, he thanked his friend again for saving his life, and sat down.
I can't shake the fact that this story is a possibility for my son. I don't know what to do for him. I just hope that he gets a good friend like I finally did in fifth grade. Tami had my back and she let me know that I was her friend no matter what anybody else thought of me. I am now, more than ever, so grateful for her friendship throughout the rest of my childhood. Thanks for letting me stand on your shoulders when I was drowning. I am also grateful for coming from such a strong family that supported me and gave me a safe nest to unravel in every day.
So, back to the story of Kaden. I wanted so badly to get even with all of these boys that were teasing my heart, and so when I got home, I turned to the Prophet, President Hinckley. I started thumbing through the Ensign, and it just fell open on President Hinckley's conference address called "Slow to Anger". In the talk he quotes,"It is when we become angry that we get into trouble." "I dare say that most of the inmates of our prisons are there because they did something when they were angry. In their wrath they swore, they lost control of themselves, and terrible things followed, even murder. There were moments of offense followed by years of regret." In his closing he said,"Now, my dear brethren, in closing I plead with you to control your tempers, to put a smile upon your faces, which will erase anger;" "May the Lord bless you and inspire you to walk without anger, without bitterness of any kind, but to reach out to others with expressions of friendship, appreciation, and love."
He spoke to me from Heaven. We are to follow the Saviors example while on this earth. At what point in his life did he retaliate when the "bullies" wouldn't lay off. He didn't even retaliate while hanging on the cross. In his final moments he said, "forgive THEM, for they know not what they do."
So, the lesson that I have learned from all of this, is forgive them. Forgive all the bullies on this earth, and teach my kids how to react peacefully when they start to bully them again. It may be harder than it sounds, but What Would Jesus Do?

Polka-dot Mckay and the super, oopery- dooper good day...

So, after Mckay had such a bad report at school, it was really hard to convince him to at least try to have a good day the next day. While sitting in front of my computer that morning, Mckay came and sat on my lap and we started to discuss the kind of day he was about to have....well, at least hope to have.... and he told me that he didn't think that he could have a good day. Just then, the sun started to shine through the window on just the right angle, and made Mckay have polka-dots!
I decidid to use this to my advantage and took a picture of him. When I downloaded the picture to the computer, he just sat there and said woa! I told him that he was "Polka-dot Mckay" and that he was going to have a super, oopery- dooper good day.
We printed the picture and taped it to his back-pack for the day, and guess what, it worked!!! He stayed out of time-out all day long, and he got all smiley faces with starry eyes on his daily report card!!! What a success...for today at least??!! Yeah!!