Masterpieces in the Making

Just a glimpse at some of our recent masterpieces....

Josh spends hours and hours taking photos of his legos, then he uses "movie maker" to create animated movies.  Amazing!

Shaving cream + food coloring + paper = WOW!

Art work that says "I love you"

I loved this picture that Josh drew because it shows the hours he spent in our old back yard with our little bunny "Lu Lu."

My Favorite Super Hero

Mitchell:  "I decided when I grow up I don't want to be Hulk anymore.  I might scare my kids.  I think I will grow up to be Spiderman instead..."

7 days of Valentines

For the past week I've been doing "7 days of Valentines" for my boys. A week ago I wrote them a little poem explaining that for 7 days I was going to find a special way to tell them 
I LOVE YOU.

Each day they were surprised with a simple little Valentine token or treat to remind them how loved they are. Today they received a Valentine letter because goodies get eaten, but words last forever.  

Happy Valentines Day! 

My Favorite Weekend Moments

* Playing games by the fire with my little boys
* A baby shower for my little sister with women I love
* A BYU win over UTAH!
* Mitchell sleeping on my lap during sacrament meeting
* Caleb smiling as soon as he heard my voice in spite of hurting ears.
* Watching "Cranford" with Dallan after the boys are in bed.
* Popping Kettle Corn
*  Mitchell insisting on calling himself "Hulk"  Dallan "Flaming Torch" and me "Wonder Woman"- even in the prayer.

A Mother Heart

I love the talk "A Mother Heart" by Julie Beck.  This weekend we had a baby shower for my little sister Amy with that talk in mind.  We created a paper chain for Amy and on each link we wrote what we love about Amy and how those traits will help her as she becomes a mother.  As she opened her gifts, we each took a turn to tell Amy what we love about being a mother, or what we loved about our own mother.  It was truly a sweet celebration of motherhood. 

Heart Attacked!

Aw, Thank you!!

A visit from down under!

This week we had some special visitors all the way from Tasmania!  I was introduced to Lisa W through sweet Lisa K in Tasmania who has a little boy like Caleb.  They are dear friends to me, and I was so excited to meet Lisa W in person!  Lisa W and her family recently moved to Utah so her husband can study at BYU for a year.  We had a wonderful time together and can't wait to get together again soon!

Lisa 3 has beautiful daughters and we loved having the littlest one with us for the afternoon.  We were tickled with her sparkly shoes and beautiful smile!

Lisa K sent some surprises from Tasmania and Lisa W was so kind to deliver them to us!
Caleb loves his Tasmanian Devil from Noah! 

The other boys loved trying all of the goodies and gobbled them right up!

I tried vegemite for the first time ever and I even liked it!  I think it tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce.  I can't wait to try it with a grilled cheese sandwich!

Even my picky eater tried a little lick...and gave it a thumbs up! 

The chocolates were big hit

and the tim tams were YUM-O!

Thank you for making our day!

We can't wait to get together again with the Woodwards!  They are absolutely delightful,  and we hope that one day the Kings can join us too!!

Good bye Mr. Wart

I brought Mitchell with me when I took Caleb to the doctor for pneumonia.  Mitchell walked right up to the doctor and said, "Hey, do you take these guys off?" then he pointed to his hand.  "Do you have a wart?" the doctor responded.  "Yes," said Mitch.  "Do you think you could freeze it off?  Will it be colder than snow?"

The doctor replied that yes, it would be colder than snow and that yes, he'd be happy to freeze it off. 

Mitchell gently told his wart "so long"  then used his high pitched wart voice to help his wart say "good bye Mitchell." 

Mitchell has considered his wart to be a special friend who gives him super hero powers and laser eyes when pushed, yet I guess he knew it was time to say good bye. 

We're still watching to see if indeed he will be gone for good, he may be a friend that doesn't quite get the hint the first time...

L.O.V.E at Home

I must admit, as soon as the Christmas decorations were tucked away, I couldn't wait to sprinkle a bit of Valentines day around the house.  It's not that I have retail-itis.  I just love having something to celebrate tucked in the corners of my home. Even better-- Most of my little things were thrift store treasures or dollar store finds!  I love that it doesn't take a lot of money to create a feeling of celebration!

 I found these wooden blocks at a local thrift store for a dollar-

I added a heart to a Christmas wreath and wahla- Valentines!

These red candles were a dollar at a Hobby Lobby Christmas Clearance !

 Vases from the dollar store are great to fill with treats!

These hanging hearts from the dollar store catch the sunlight at about 4:00 in the afternoon and reflect red hearts all around my living room!

 

Happy February!

Shower Power

Have a fear of showers?

Mitchell has the solution:

GOGGLES!

They work every time for a little bit of extra bravery!

The 5 Dollar Trip

This past week Mitchell and I were eating lunch together at a local Mexican restaurant. The cement floor was wet and slippery, and the man in front of us had his foot propped behind him. As Mitchell and I headed to our table, he tripped over the mans foot and fell head first onto the cement. The gentleman felt so bad, but I reassured him that it wasn't his fault and that Mitchell would be fine. 

However, as we were finishing our meal, the man walked up to our table and again told Mitchell how sorry he was that he got hurt. Then he handed him a 5 dollar bill! I told him there was no need to do that, but he insisted!

Mitchell was on cloud nine, and he was especially excited when I explained that 5 dollars equaled 5 things from the dollar store! So off we went to dollar tree where Mitchell picked out 5 treasures and paid with his own money!

"This is the best day of my life!" He exclaimed!

Thank you to the kind gentleman who took a moment to care about my little boy and who absolutely made his day!

Happy 11th Birthday Josh!

My Josh turned 11 years old this week!  The day he was born I was teaching elementary school and had and inkling it might be the day.  As I got increasingly uncomfortable, I called my Dad to see if he could take me to the hospital, since he was close and my husband was an hour away.  I made sure my students were taken care of, grabbed my teacher bag then went outside and sat on the curb to wait for him to pick me up.  I still laugh when I think of that image.  

 Josh was born at about the time the bell rang to end the school day.  I was immediately in love, and he was immediately brought to the NICU because he was having troubles breathing.  I remember crying in my hospital room because I just wanted to hold him, but I wasn't stable for a couple of days- so I just missed him.  I remember my dad coming into my room while I was crying.  I said, "I just want to hold my baby."  He replied, "Do you want to hold mine?"  You see, my mom was in the hospital room right next to me because she had given birth to my little sister, Alisa, 2 days earlier. 

It wasn't long before I was able to bring Josh home and hold him for as long as I wanted... and this little boy has held my heart ever since.

Josh is a gentle soul.  He thinks deeply about things and really tries to choose the right.

He is so kind to his little brothers and has a sweet way with little children.

Josh is a remarkable student.  He doesn't like to be in the limelight, but he continually excels at school.

Josh loves to invent and create.  He can usually be found making an invention, creating lego movies, or making his own board games to play.

He loves to experiment and learn new things.

I am humbled and honored to be the mother of such a special young man.  He's growing up... too fast.

But I hope he knows, that no matter how big he gets, he'll always hold my heart.

Josh, thanks for making my wish to become a mother come true.  I love you so very much.

(Josh always chooses a score bar cake instead of my traditional double deckers.  German chocolate cake + sweetened condensed milk + caramel + whip cream and crushed up score bars = ooey gooey chocolaty goodness!)

Arrow of Light

Josh recently earned his arrow of light! 

The shaft of the arrow is straight and true

The blue arrow symbolizes loyalty

The Fletch feathers on the shaft guide the arrow on it's course.  One represents parents, another the ideals he's learned in scouting, the last one represents the gospel

The round shaft of the arrow represents the eternal life.

 

Each of the 7 rays on the arrow of light patch  also represents a character trait-

* Wisdom

* Courage

* Self control

* Justice

* Faith

* Hope

* Love

As each one was explained, a hanging feather was added to Josh's arrow.

Congratulations Josh!  We are so very proud of you!

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

Matthew's first basketball game

Matthew really wanted to play basketball this year. It's his first year so I've been crossing my fingers hoping it would be a good experience. He had his first game last weekend. I'll let you decide how much he enjoyed it...

ps.  He left his jersey on all day.  

and he slept in it too!