Sigh....Our Baby is 2

I know I've said it before, many many times but I'm going to say it again: kids grow up too fast! This little guy is a handful. He loves to get into everything, loves to play with balls, cars and pretty much anything he can hit things with. We love his adorable smile and his laugh is contagious. Love you Johnny!!!

I wanted to make the basketball look more real with some texture and found that the meat tenderizer worked good he he.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jonathan!!!

Wow a 12 year old....really?

Where did the time go. I can't believe our baby is 12, or maybe it's that I can't believe I'm old enough to have one. She has been such a blessing in our lives. She is our little babysitter now and we are so grateful she is willing to watch the kids so Kevin and I can go on weekly dates.
She has grown into a beautiful young lady and we are so proud of her. She is doing well in school, piano and violin. We LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!! She is having her birthday party on Saturday at the Fun Park. They will have pizza, cake and go rollerblading.  They provide everything and I'm super excited that I won't have to clean up after twelve 12 year olds.

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

It's great to be 8!

Luke is eight! He wanted to have a math party because he's really into math (lets hope this lasts).  We had a Math is a Blast party and played a bunch of games. How I let him talk me into having 11 friends come I'll never know. I guess in my mind I figured not everyone would be able to come. All of them did so I had 12 rowdy 8 year old's to handle. Thankfully Danika was still at school, Andrew went to a friends and the two little ones were at another friends house to play. It was nice to just focus on Luke, the party and the games.

The great thing about being 8 is Baptism! I'm so thankful for family and friends who came to support Luke on his special day. Luke was excited to receive his new scriptures and bag for church. Although he has been taking them to school as well....yeah he's just a little excited about them. He was excited to receive his scout shirt and book too.

Two more birthdays to go this month. Jonathan will be two (I can't believe my baby is two! I guess I'm more surprised that I'm not pregnant or have a baby already!)  Danika is turning the big 12 so we will be having a big party for her as well. I've decided to throw big parties every 4 years when they are 4, 8,12 and 16. The other years they can have some friends over to play and we will have a family party (I'll still make them a birthday cake of course) but I'm not going to plan a big party with decorations and games as the other years. Happy Birthday Lukie Ookie!

I hope this works

We had a family council this morning during our scripture study. Kevin and I (Mostly I) have been having struggles keeping the kids on task. As soon as they come home they want to do other things besides chores and homework. I have been feeling like a task master and I don't like saying "NO" so often. We decided to make up charts. We already have chore charts and the kids have been doing well (after being told a few times).  I was always being bombarded with "Can I play now?", "What else do I have to do?" and so on. Multiply that by four (cause the younger two have very few chores) and it gets daunting.
So now when the kids come home they can get their paper. (I'll get a clip board to put them on) Mark off what they need to do and bring it back to me when it's complete, and I will give the final check off to play.
There have also been times that they have said their rooms were clean and beds made and after inspection they were not! We discussed this as well. The kids agreed that if they mark off the box without completing the task they will loose their game time.
I'm going to try and let things slide such as them not getting their tasks done (on my time) because in the end it's up to them when they are going to play.

Although we have talked that if Mom asks for things to be done and it's ignored they get an extra chore from a list I've made. Just little things such as, wiping out the microwave, fridge, toaster etc. There are some times when they have to complete a chore before others, like if one kid has to sweep before the other one can mop. It's not nice to make the one who has to mop wait when he or she has all the other items checked off the list. Well here's hoping this works!

What's mine is yours

I posted this on Facebook and my thoughts turned to so many wonderful friends and family in my life who have lost a loved one. Then my thoughts turned to other things as well.

I have had two miscarriages. One was a few months after Kevin and I were married. I was devastated and worried that I wouldn't be able to carry a child. The second was after I had Andrew. I didn't know I was pregnant which I'm actually grateful for or it would have been harder emotionally. I'm not sure how far along I was as I hadn't started my cycle since I was nursing. I've never been so scared though. I'm guessing I was around four months since I had to deliver. I let my body take it's course and thought all was well until the next month. I was heading up to take a test at the university and as I ran up old main my pants became soaked in blood. I had to go to the ER, there was a lot of tissue left from the miscarriage.
So that came to my thoughts as well as our family.
It's not easy to have Kevin serve as the Bishop. Am I grateful that he is worthy? YES. Is it easy? It's getting easier but I still have my days. I thought of this song in terms of him leaving us on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other times things come up.  What's mine is Yours. He's Heavenly Fathers servant. My time is His time. He may be my Husband but he's his Son. He may be our kids Father but he is also the Ward Father. I love that the gospel can put an easier perspective on things. When you think of things in an eternal perspective, life gets brighter and easier. What's mine is yours!

Trip to Missouri

I'm amazed every time how well the kids do on the long drive to Missouri. It gets easier every time. This year Christmas seemed super easy since we did it all online to be shipped there. Here are some photos of the trip.

Jonathan's knuckles compared to Uncle Mike's. 

We all went to the theater together on Christmas Eve and all got sick eating too much popcorn. 

We went to the George Washington Carver museum. This guy was amazing and smart. He came up with a ton of different ways to use peanuts and sweet potatoes. He help farmers who's lands were sucked dry of nutrients because cotton.  They called him the plant doctor. I think the amazing part is that he was born a slave and had moved around so much living with people as he went to school. He was also very religious. 

Jacob turned six and Andrew turned 10 on the 30th. It was fun to celebrate with everyone.

Eating cake and ice cream :) ummmm

Their Lego cakes I made.

We got to see the Civil War Arena that Kevin's parents bought recently. It was really entertaining to see how competitive people can get at kart racing. We were surprised how fast they went. It's like  mini NASCAR.

Christmas Recitals/concerts and Card

Andrew had his first Orchestra concert this last week. He started playing the Viola in September. Luke says he wants to play the cello when he starts 4th grade so it looks like we may have a whole orchestra in the family. Although I'm not sure if Andrew is going to stick with it.

The same night we had to run to the University for Luke's piano recital. He has been taking since September and is cruising. It was pretty chaotic as five minutes before we were suppose to leave for Andrew's concert, Jonathan fell and split his lip. Ahhh good times.

Andrew and Luke also had the singing program for the school this week. They spit it up and had the 1st and 2nd graders on one day and the 3,4,and 5th graders the next day. So I was at the school for three performances because Andrew performed with the orchestra for the school the third day. Let's just say it's not fun to keep a 20 month old and 4 year old entertained through those programs. I have Jacob's kindergarten one to attend this week, here's hope things run smoother.

Here is our Christmas Card this year. Flare wrote our Christmas letter.

Hi, I'm Flare, the Westwood's new dog. They let me write the Christmas letter this year because...well because I'm cool. I've had 6 great months with these people and they treat me really good. Even when I steal food out of the hands of the littlest one. Let me tell you about my people.

Dad: He's gone quite a bit, I'm not sure why but he's always in a suit. I've been a good outlet for him to release some anxiety since he switched from his job that he's been at for 11 years. I can tell he likes his new job by the way he pets me.

Mom: She's the one who gets mad at me for stealing food. One time she left some raw chicken on the counter to thaw and left to  pick up a couple kids. The oldest boy let me in and I stole one of them. I've never seen a white woman turn so red. Other than that she is nice and plays with me when the kids are off to school. 

Danika: She comes outside sometimes and plays me her violin. I like it.

Andrew: He lets me in when he's not suppose to so I like him  a lot.

Luke: He likes to do tricks with me. I can sit, jump, roll over, shake and bark.

Jacob: Ya know he just mauls me. He's my friend.

BriLynn: I don't like it when she sticks her face in my face, just sayin'.

Jonathan: Well what can I say, he's my pal. I like to lick his face. The big people especially don't mind when he has a runny nose. That way they don't need to use a tissue. 

I like my family and I'm glad they chose me from the Humane Society to be a part of their family. You should come and visit me, I would love to lick your face.

Love Flare the Dog

PS Bring me treats.

Santa Clause is Coming to town!

Our ward Christmas party was this week. 

Can you tell Jonathan really didn't want to sit on Santa's lap.

 I absolutely LOVE this picture. Her age is the best at Christmastime!

 The kids were dancing to music.  Lorisa Pulotu came to sing to us.

It was a great night! Attending these kind of events get me more in the mood for Christmas!

BriLynn is FOUR!!!

Our baby girl is FOUR today. She is a girly girl and it was so fun to watch her opening gifts. We planned a birthday party but had to cancel because she got sick. She wasn't too hurt about it which was good. I figure we will have to do one when she is five. We LOVE our BriLynn!

Parenting Wo's

I really thought children would get easier as they got older. I'm finding out that you just face different challenges. We have struggled with our kids bickering. Sure they always play fight but now they can really hurt each other and it turns into real fighting.  Kevin and I went to the temple tonight with full purpose. The answer we received: Love them more. Praise them more. 

It's so hard to do that when they are doing something that drives you crazy.  When I can't think of anything nice to say I think of what Glen Lathem says in his book The Power of Positive Parenting. "GOOD BREATHING SON". 

Our new family scripture: D@C 121:43

So there will by more hugs and love shown by this Momma and more complements/praise.

I CAN DO BETTER

I WILL DO BETTER because

OUR CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER.