Amusing Insight

Last night, Amber joined Adam and me in bed because she had a scary dream. After and hour or two, she informed me that if I carried her into her room, wrapped her in her blanket, and gave her a stuffed animal, she would be okay to sleep alone. Gladly, I obliged and was stunned to hear about her dream the next morning. It was creepy, sophisticated, and validly scary. She then went on to explain that she has lots of scary dreams involving talking mud puddles (according to Amber, those puddles are mean and very creepy). She also told us that Gingerbread Man (from Shrek) can hop around even though he doesn't have arm or legs and that he tells other people to sneak into their room to scare her and Karli.

Tonight, both girls started screaming and crying the moment we mentioned bedtime, saying they didn't want the same dream to happen again (Karli was convinced she'd have it, too). They were legitimately freaked out, and I had to build a fence around their bed with their comforter. I've never been a fan of lying by them at bedtime ("Self soothe" is my mantra when it comes to my kids), but I gave in and sat on their floor until they were asleep. Every light in their room is on (that means three), and we said a special prayer for them to be brave. Let's hope it works!

I think the reason I was sympathetic to their plight is that when I was young, I had a recurring dream that I was having a tea party with Hello Kitty and her friends in a logging yard. The men working there were dirty, loud, and scary, and this dream plagued me until I was a teenager. I always thought those mean guys would throw a humongous log at me or try to kidnap my animated friends. It seems so ridiculous now, but I remember how the dream bothered me. I hope that Amber and Karli's ultra-scary dreams don't haunt them more than once, for their sake and mine. After all, bedtime is the sacred hour in our house. I need my sanity!

The Five-Hour Cleaning Lesson

Yesterday was room-cleaning day. At 4:30 p.m., Adam tackled the upstairs bathroom (thank you!), I dug our room out from under three weeks' worth of washed-but-not-folded laundry, two garbage bags full of papers and miscellany, plenty of our kids' toys, etc. Amber and Karli were charged with cleaning their room, which happens weekly, so it wasn't a huge task. They've been cleaning their own room for a year now, so I didn't think it would be a big deal.
When we heard the complaints and could clearly see that nothing was being picked up, we told them they couldn't swim with their cousins until the job was finished. Two hours later, their room was an even bigger mess and they were both crying because they were hungry. We said, "Hurry and clean your room and then you can eat dinner," but that gave them absolutely no motivation. Amber kept lamenting, "We're just little kids and we don't know any better!" (her new favorite excuse for everything) and "It's too hard!" I replied with a kind but stern explanation that they've been cleaning their room for a year and that they were actually big kids (it's a relative term, right?). Still, no progress.
Finally, after Adam and I finished our jobs, fed ourselves and Rex dinner, put him to bed, sat in the hot tub, showered, and I did two more batches of laundry AND a pedicure, and after Amber and Karli had screamed and cried for an hour straight about cleaning their room, Adam and I went in to be available in case they had questions. It was so hard for me not to put the girls to bed and finish the job myself, but Adam reminded me to let them do it and at 9:25 p.m., the room was finally clean.
I'm really looking forward to the day when they realize that whining about tasks only prolongs the misery. I think I was nine or ten years old when the epiphany struck me, so hopefully we only have seven more years of these ridiculous events!

My Sweet Cousin Hayden

Hayden Sean Housel 2/7/1990 ~ 9/11/2009
Hayden Sean Housel was welcomed with open arms into the world on February 7, 1990.On September 11, 2009, our beloved Hayden peacefully returned to his loving Heavenly Father. Hayden was a member of the LDS Church. Hayden attended Bingham High School and graduated from Horizonte before attending Salt Lake Community College.
He excelled at many sports from the time he was a little boy. He played on high school football, golf, and lacrosse teams. He also played on the South Jordan Slammers, a competition baseball team. He loved to snowboard and play the piano as well.
To know Hayden is to love him. He had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his friends and large extended family. He had a special connection with children and babies. They loved his gentle heart and soft touch. Hayden loved the Dallas Cowboys and spent the last weekend of his life attending football games in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium with family members. He also loved the New York Yankees. One of the highlights of his life was a trip with his family to New York to watch the Yankees play. He enjoyed spending time with his family and had a special relationship with his cousins. Hayden also had many special friends who supported him and brought him great joy through his life.
He is survived by his parents, Sean Housel of South Jordan and Mary Ann Rydalch Housel of West Jordan; his brothers, Preston and Hunter Housel and his sister, Isabella, all of West Jordan; his grandparents, Don and Doralee Rydalch of Sugar City, Idaho, and Karen Housel of Murray; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Wayne Housel.
Funeral services will be Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009, 11 a.m. at the River LDS 6th Ward, 7350 South 1300 West. A viewing will be held Monday, Sept. 14, 6-8p.m. at Jenkins Soffe South Valley at 1007 West South Jordan Parkway (10600 S) and on Tuesday from 10-10:45 a.m. at the Church.Online condolences at http://www.jenkins-soffe.com/ Hayden, our hearts are broken. We miss you more than you will ever know. We love you and will think of you every day until we can hold you in our arms again.
Hayden was the sweetest boy and I'm so sad to know that he won't be here to play with my kids and talk with me about the musical preferences we shared. I know he's now on an important mission on the other side of the veil, and I'm thankful to know that we will see him again. I'll miss you terribly, dear cousin, but I'll cherish all the fun times we had!