What is it about kids and watching things again and again?

Since my parents left a few weeks ago, Katherine has discovered that she can watch them on our home videos. So she is at the "pooter" every day multiple times a day, asking to watch "bounceline," "horses," "candy," "pool," birthday," etc. I love that it's keeping everyone in the family fresh in her mind, but it gets tricky when Geoff or I need to actually use the computer.

We're watching Barbie's The Nutcracker and Diving Horses daily.

The weather has been getting warmer so we tried out the unheated pool this week. Can you guess how quickly Katherine turned blue? Yet she would not consent that it was too cold. I tried to corral her into the kiddie pool (a few degrees warmer) but she continuously ran back to the steps of the big pool, arms flailing out, no fear of the edge, and every adult near heart attack. Time to get that kid into swim lessons!

I had to laugh... On Thursday night, I had taken Spud to a baptism, so Saturday, when we went to the pool, she tried to baptize me! She raised her arm the the square, blessed me and tried to dunk me. Sacrilegious? How do you explain ordinances to a 2 yr old? I just told her only Daddy's can baptize and she seemed satisfied.

On the drive home from the Hatches today, she tried to get Geoff and I ready to pray. She ordered us both to fold our arms and bow our heads and close our eyes and be quiet while she prayed... Geoff cheated, of course, as he was driving the car, but it was truly sweet. She also conducted a round of I Am A Child of God and ordered me to sing while holding a piece of junk mail up like it was sheet music... What a character!

We had a series of misadventures this week. I still haven't found my phone. I lost the key card to the pool. I dumped over our paper shredder but I got our vacuum to work. The day I decided to mop the floor, Katherine decided to drizzle Capri Sun from her mouth to form puddles all over the entire house during the 2 minutes I changed my clothes to get ready for the baptism. Not to mention the potty training...

It is not going well. At other people's homes, she will tell the mom that she needs to go even when she's wearing a diaper, but at home... She has no problem bringing me a fresh pair of panties once she's wet. I think she just doesn't want to interrupt her fun. Chocolate, stickers, rewards are not cutting it as motivation. I'm at the point of telling her that she can't wear her princess panties until she uses the potty. So we're still diapering and may continue to diaper for a while...

I attended a canning workshop Friday night where the woman showed us how to can meat and butter! They were delicious! But what an investment to buy a pressure canner. I don't think I'll be ready to do that for a while.

We had stake conference this weekend and it was FABULOUS! The Saturday evening session was about how to teach your children about the gospel. Over and over, we heard the message of continuing family home evening, daily family prayer and family scripture study. Surprisingly, we are doing really well with FHE and prayer, but the scripture study I need ideas! I used to read aloud while Katherine took her morning bottle, but now she doesn't take a bottle and she runs away when I pull out the scriptures. So then, I tried to get her to recite an Article of Faith or a scripture that I have memorized... not working too well, either. So, at this point, I'm counting our primary songs as our gospel learning time. She really likes to sing. I'm inspired, though, to step up my game. It's time to invest. What ways have you found to teach your children effectively? I would love book & DVD recommendations, activities, anything...