Jonathan turns 1

I can't believe my baby is 1. It's kinda sad but exciting as well. I know I'm done but part of me still is sad that I won't have an infant anymore. Jonathan is more of a toddler to me as he can feed himself and he's mobile.

 He's a happy little boy and we are so thankful to have him in our family.

Parenting

This last Saturday Kevin and I attended a parent symposium. I love self help books and classes. As our kids are getting older I'm having a harder time knowing how to discipline. It's a lot easier when they are little. Anywho...we went to a class where the teacher, an institute teacher, showed this clip. 

 After a good laugh, he mentioned that this is what we want to do for our kids.  Protect them from the worldly trials or pains that come their way.
 It got me thinking about our Heavenly parents. I'm sure they want to come and protect us but that would mess up the plan. Just as we have to let our children face their trials and learn from them so must our Heavenly parents let us grow by our earthly experiences.
We received a free book called the Powers of Positive Parenting. I had borrowed this from my friend years ago and found it very informative. I can't wait to read it again and work on being more positive in my comments instead of negative. Even if I can't find anything nice to say except "Good breathing son."  :)

We also went to a marital relationship class. I love Kevin and I'm so proud of all he does. He is a great Father and husband. I'm going to work harder at complimenting and showing him that I appreciate all that he does. One thing that the speaker showed was a comment made at a therapy session. This came from the husband, "Why should I tell her Thank you for dinner when I've worked all day and I don't ever get thanked for it."
That comment hit me hard. I don't know if I ever verbally tell Kevin how much I appreciate that he works so I can stay home with the kids.
I don't necessarily expect a thank you for preparing a meal but he usually says it. I'm so spoiled with him! He is so wonderful.  My goal is to try even harder to be worthy of this wonderful man I'm blessed to share eternity with.

Danika is 11

We celebrated Danika's 11th birthday yesterday. She is becoming such a little lady. We got her ears pierced and she did a great job, not one tear. They had a person on both sides so it could be done together. Ya know it's such a small thing but it makes her look so grown up (sigh)

She wanted a peanut butter cake. It was pretty yummy. She wanted a monkey on her cake so I let her draw it :) I think she did a great job.

Friends, Fun and Jazz

We had been debating on renewing our Jazz season tickets since it's costing a fortune in gas with our beast. It has been a fun thing to take the kids individually to on their mommy and daddy dates though. We had been thinking of switching and getting season tickets for the Aggies since it's closer. The deadline to get cheaper tickets was upon us and we decided to go ahead for another year. I think it will be something our kids will remember. With the renewal we got four free lower bowl tickets if we made an early payment.  We asked our friends Kelly and Gabe Hampton to go with us. We got free shirts and lunch bags. At the end of the game they had so many shirts left they were letting everyone grab whatever they wanted so we got some for the whole family.



They won in overtime, it was pretty intense. See the guy behind Kevin with the nachos....he dropped them down Kevin's back ha ha.

For fun

One of Kevin's co-workers made these and he sent me a picture. They looked fun and the kids enjoyed them.

Speaking of fun, I need to get my summer schedule going. Pinterest has been helpful. I did ABC theme's for the last few years and want to do something different this year. If anyone has ideas please share :)

I'm the Queen

I wanted to share a wonderful story my friend shared with me. I'm not posting the whole thing but most of it.
It is from Michele L on Segullah.

With twenty minutes left in a particularly trying sacrament meeting, I mentally consoled myself, “It’s OK, you don’t have a calling anymore. You can skip Sunday School and Relief Society today.”

No sooner had the thought flickered through my brain, when my little girl turned to me and said, “If you go home, I’m coming too!”

In a heartbeat, my youngest son added his plea,”Take me too!”

“I’m not going home,” I whispered across the bench, “we’re all staying.” I did stay, but I spent the next few hours wondering what expression or body language betrayed my thoughts to my little mind readers. And realizing, once again, the tremendous impact I have on their attitudes and actions.

************

Even the most novice chess player recognizes the most powerful piece in the game– not the king, nor the bishops, the leaping knights or the eager pawns– but the elegant, versatile queen. She moves powerfully across the board influencing the moves of every other piece.

My sister recently suggested Satan is working extra hard to discourage me because I am the queen of my household. Not the ‘dripping diamonds, bring me a cake’ sort of ruler, but the ‘my actions shape everyone else’ kind.

And I can’t be toppled by those minions whispering, “you’re worthless” “no one needs you here” “why even try?” In fact I’d very much like to be one of those women who when I get up in the morning the devil says, “Oh no! She’s awake again.”

My little chess mavens taught me the best way to defeat the queen is to distract her; create all kinds of chaos around her, then take her down. Our world could scarcely contain more distractions for women– beauty secrets, social networks, PTA, Pinterest– we are expected to hide our wrinkles, watch our weight, serve the community, maintain a career (at least a little something on the side), all while nurturing children, making dinner and cultivating a happy marriage.

For me, staying on my game means making choices, eliminating too much busyness and shutting out the voices of discouragement. I’m determined to ignore those minions whispering cruelties in my ear. I’m brushing them off, stomping on their little tails and sweeping them out my back door. I need to live boldly, happily and guide my children along with me. No influence?! Look at these people I’m sending out into the world– honest, smart, good and kind.

No one can take me down; I’m the queen.

Isn't that awesome! I need to eliminate distractions/busyness in my life. I know some will be solved in June when I have someone else take over PTA woo hoo...ya I'm a little too excited :)

On another note: I LOVE LOVE LOVE Family Home Evenings! It's so wonderful to have that time set aside to play and be together as a family. I took these pictures of Kevin playing power launch with the kids on the tramp. 

What a great daddy he is!

Funny Stuff

I have a couple other kids here tonight. Both Andrew's friends so they are around 9-10 yrs of age. As they were sitting down to eat dinner the topic of kissing came up.

Michael: A guy told me if your eyes are more blue it means you've kissed more girls
Me: Well all my kids have blue eyes
Andrew: I didn't kiss a girl
Michael: Well I'm never kissing a girl
Jacob (in all his five year old wisdom): I've never kissed a girl, just my mom and it was on the cheek

Lukie Ookie turns 7

Lukie Ookie: Born March 1st. 2005.  He was our biggest baby at 9lbs 4 oz.  It's amazing how time flies. I try to remember all my babies when they were...well babies but it's hard, they grow so fast. We love you Lukie Ookie!!!

1 Year old (he looks a lot like Jonathan to me)

2 Years old

Now the big 7

Photography by a 3 yr old.

BriLynn loves taking pictures with the camera. Here is her latest shoot of Jonathan, her willing subject.

She was inside the cupboard taking them. She always makes me laugh....well except the times she picks her nose, points her finger to me and says "here mom".

Pressure

I have been reading a book called Side by Side by Jeanette Goates Smith. It's about supporting a spouse in church service. It has helped me when at times I feel like falling apart. I wanted to write a few quotes/stories that have stood out to me.

Revel your limitations: Do you find that whenever you have to tell someone "no" you generally include an explanation for your answer?  A devoted Church servant need not manufacture an excuse for saying no. Saints who are anxiously engaged in a good cause always have something else beckoning. 

Tolerance for trials: Believing, behaving, and serving Saints want desperately to obey Heavenly Father and, in doing so, serve their fellowman.  I see this in Kevin and it makes me even more proud to be his wife. But...those with high tolerance for trials are willing to give and give and give until they have nothing left to give. Such a sacrifice is not helpful to the kingdom. It is okay to give and give but stop short of giving till you have nothing left to give. Save some energy. This way you will remain useful and won't become a service project yourself. Even those who rate the highest on a "tolerance for trials" scale eventually reach their limit. Hence why we should serve within our means.

The oil in your lamp: I love this quote from Neal A. Maxwell. "When, for the moment , we ourselves are not being stretched on a particular cross, we ought to be at the foot of someone else's."  Deep huh? We all crave opportunities to serve, but we can't give when we are stretched on our own crosses.

Pressure to set an example: Church leaders and their families are often watched very carefully. She relates a story about pressure she felt to set a good example while her husband was bishop.  Her son who was deacon-aged, showed up at church without any shoes. The church was twenty minutes away from home and she would miss sacrament if she drove home to get them. She cringed as she thought of what others reactions would be that the bishop's son attended church without any shoes. How unorganized the bishops wife must be, how scatterbrained! She probably slept to late. Hasn't she heard the song "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday..."? She should have had her children's clothes all set out the night before. She decided to attend Sacrament.
One of the most stressful requirements of supporting a spouse in leadership position is dealing with the knowledge that your family will be subjected to a bit of scrutiny. When Kevin was put in as Bishop a member of the High Council told him to prepare his wife as she would loose friends. I thought this was so sad. I don't believe I have lost any friends but I do feel weighed down with the responsibility of setting a good example. It's not me thought that I worry most about. In his first year of being the bishop Kevin told me that he couldn't count how many times he has been yelled at. It saddens me to think that there are those who would be mean to those trying to serve the Lord. He's a regular guy with extra burden. It makes me want to tell those who have yelled at him to "put yourselves in his shoes and see how you do." It also reminds me of a comment made at the "Mom's and Muffin's" that the PTA put on recently. A mom complained that there wasn't any milk with the muffins. We didn't advertise there would be. I want to say...if you have a problem with the way things are run, then try running it yourself. Sorry, venting moment. When we say anything bad about the leaders of the church, weather true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause.
I have learned to not sweat the small stuff. I'm trying to do my best each day and there are times I falter but, I'm human,  doing the best I can is all He asks.