Friends, Family, and good times.

Over the holiday we went to my sisters house so Ryan could help them put in a new back door. Laura called last week and talked to Sarah and told her that she wanted to take her shopping since she didn't have any girls of her own, she has 5 boys. When Emma got home Sarah was so excited to tell Emma that Aunt Laura was going to take them shopping. So on Monday my Mom, Sister, Emma, Sarah and Joseph went to Kohls. Can I first just tell you how much I love that store. The non clearance price of things is out of control but when they want to get rid of stuff they almost give it away. They had clearanced there already sale price by 75%. The 4 of us were grabbing things like crazy for the girls to try on. Once we got in the dressing room it was so much fun. The girls would try stuff on then model and ask us how cute they looked. I have to say that it was so much fun having my mom and sister to ohh and awe with. I can just picture ten years down the road... Will they still love it?I think it was Saturday that Ryan let me sleep in. I woke up to hearing the kids in the courtyard laughing and having the best time. I could not figure out what in the world they could be doing. When I went out there I discovered we had crickets and Joseph is not the least bit afraid of them. He was so excited and it made the other kids just laugh with delight that Joseph was so happy about his new little friends. Ryan took some really good pictures.

He even let Jared put one on his head.
This was at Sarah her kindergarten graduation with Mrs. Herder.

They had the cutest little production with a bunch of songs. I wish I had gotten closer so I could have taken a good picture. Sarah is on the top back right, second to the last.

She was making the cutest face here.

Last Sunday Joseph didn't take his nap before church so when we got home he was so tired. He never just falls asleep so it was a big deal to us to see him falling asleep on the couch.But we thought he should eat dinner before we put him to bed. I guess we were wrong.

EmmaLee said the cutest prayer tonight.

"Father, I miss you and I wish I could be with you in heaven. I wish we could be best friends. I try to be good and in church I am good. I try to do what is right and do what I'm told." There was more and the whole thing was so tender. I told her before she said her prayers to simply talk to Heavenly Father and tell him what she was thinking and this is what came out. What a precious little child she is.

Sarah started piano a few months ago. Lately she has started to play songs that she knows. She goes to the piano and plunks away for about ten minutes. Then she has it figured out. The other day it was the theme to Star Wars. Today she was playing a song from church. She says she just hears it in her head and then she can play it. Her favorite ones have been the Little Einstein songs. I am so impressed with her desire to play.

The kids all started swim lessons today. The had put Sarah in Level 2 on accident, she should be in level three. The don't have a level three at the same time so they put her in level four and she was keeping up so well. You would never have known. I am hoping she will gain the confidence she was lacking.

Emma, being the happy little girl she is just really had a good time. I think she would enjoy anything life put in front of her. I want to be more like her.

Jared was not super thrilled to have Sarah in his class. He didn't get mad but you could tell he was not excited. He also did well and was loving that they taught him how to swim on his back. He is so much better then last year and it is so nice to take him swimming and not have to worry about him.

I get to do another cake tonight. My friend Demeree's little boy is turning 6 and having a GI Joe party. We found the coolest toys to go on top. I am going to spray paint the top orange and green camoflauge then simply set up the guys. Super easy and sure to please.

Speaking of Demeree, every once in awhile you meet someone who gets you and you get them. You understand the way they think because you think similar. It's like a breath of fresh air to talk with them because you know they will understand. You don't feel judged and you don't worry what might come out of your mouth because you feel like they won't care if you do say something dumb. Sometimes we make friends with people out of circumstance. You probably wouldn't be friends with them if situations were different but your kids play together or you work closely with them or they are friends with the same people you are Etc. You talk about surface things and never really open up to them, no matter how many times you may get together. You invite them over and you enjoy there company but really, if you moved away, you would never call them again.
Then there are friends that you do talk with and open up to some but for one reason or another you are not really happy with the friendship. Either all they want to talk about is themselves or they dwell so much on the negative that you feel heavy after every conversation. Where am I going with this? I'm not sure. Just something that I have been thinking about.

So back to Demeree. Since the day I meet her I felt like I would just really get along with her but for one reason after another we never really got a chance to talk. Then our kids started a singing group about the same time and we got that chance. She is the one who does wonderful massages. When she first came over and we got to talk I realized why it was I felt like we needed to be friends. I feel like I can be totally honest with her. But it is more then that. She helps me to see the kind of person I want to be. She helps me to see the good in my life and I have felt happier with that outlook. So, here is what all this is leading to. After having a girl friend like this, after many years of not (Family excluded here) it makes my other friendships feel soooo? I don't really know what the right word is... Maybe pointless. That isn't totally right because I do have fun with them it is just so... Different. Then I came to the conclusion after talking tonight with the kids about there friends and after talking with Ryan. Some people in this life are good to associate with but not surround yourselves with. Others are simply fun friends. The kind you play games with and go to the pool with your families. Others bare their soul to you seeking your advice but feel one sided. Then there are the few gems. The ones who you talk with, play with, know that you both are being feed and edified. Those are the ones you hold on to. The ones you hope to be old ladies together. I guess they are like sisters. You love your sister no matter what they do or say. You play with them, you tell them everything and you know they love you unconditionally. I hope all women get to have precious gems touch their lives.

Wow talk about long random thoughts!

Teacher gifts

Here are the teacher presents the kids and I made. Sarah was so excited to create hers just the way she wanted. She did it different then I had planned and I think it turned out much better.

The poem reads:
School
Is waiting
Can't be late
Hurry Hurry
Half-past eight
Out the door
And down the street
Then softly, quielty
Take your seat

Front of the clipboard
Back side

Dry eraser that goes with it

Crayon container we made from the target dollar section. We wrapped it all up pretty, included a card, and I think the finished product turned out good.

The eraser for Jareds teacher

back side

Front side

Love these kids!

For Mothers day this year I made these cute frames. They were very easy and I was so pleased with how they turned out. I took this picture of the kids one night. It is one of my favorites! I didn't stress out about what they were wearing or how their hair was done because I knew I wanted it in black and white and I knew that their hair would be all over the place. I ended up blowing it up and putting it in my living room.

This was us on mother's day. I have such cute kids. My face is showing my pregnant state.
This picture was taken a few days earlier.

I had to post this picture. Jospeh and Emma were playing in her room. Emma came out so proud of what she had created with her little brother.

Wonderfully loved!

Cute little Kids
I say "I know" a lot. I say it to let who ever I am talking to know that I hear them and understand what they are saying. Consequently, my children all say it. Regardless, it cracked us all up the other day when Joseph started to say "I know" over and over again.

"Why?" He says this when you tell him to do something. He doesn't really know what it means but he says it anyway and it cracks us up.

When you ask him something and the answer is yes he says, "ugh huh."

Jared had a Sunday school lesson a few weeks ago about the miracles of Jesus. The teacher showed a clip from a video and it showed Jesus healing the lepers. Shortly after it was over Jared asked his teacher, "How many leprechauns did he heal?" I love children's innocence.

Can I just say that I had the best mothers day possible. 6:30 Sunday morning my four children wake me up singing Happy Mothers day to the tune of happy birthday. Jared was carrying one of my pretty trays with breakfast on it. I was served cereal and juice in bed. I asked Ryan if he put them up to it and he swears he did not. It melted my heart that they thought of that all on their own. They also wrote on the card, Best Mom In The World! I think in the years to come I won't remember the presents they gave but I will remember their sweet acts of love. Ryan let me go back to sleep and we had a really lazy day. The kids gave me Clue, which was my favorite game when I was little. We played a few rounds and I realized that Ryan and I sure are competitive.

I had a great Birthday as well. The kids celebrated with me the weekend before. We had a great day just being together and hanging out. They took me out to dinner and gave me very cute gifts. Ryan let the kids pick out gifts for me and it was very cute. Both Jared and Emma bought me necklaces from Target and Sarah knew that I had to have flowers. Ryan got me a camera and I love it. I have already put it to good use. It has more pixels then the one we had and when I blew up a picture to an 8x10 it looked great.

The reason we celebrated early was because my Mom, Sister, and I went to women's Conference up at BYU. I had the best experience and I just felt like I could handle some of the hard things I have been dealing with. It gave me hope for change. Sometimes I think we get in a rut and feel stuck. We can give up and just think that things will always be a certain way. Then we are given a glimpse of what the atonement really is all about. We start to understand more fully that the Savior didn't just suffer for our sins but he suffered so that we don't have to. We can give those hardships and trials and seek after that change of heart. Through him we can be made whole. We can be just a little closer to the person he wants us to be. Long story short. I am truly grateful for the peace I found from the wonderful speakers.

Last night I received the most wonderful gift. Ryan is doing trade for a friend of ours who does massages. She came over and massaged Ryan and then me. My body has been so tight from the pregnancy. From the second I layed down to when I got up I was so relaxed. She had these pillows that made it so I could lay on my stomach and it felt so good. She has these amazing hands and I just felt like butter in her hands. Every women deserves this.

Two new LO's

I did this LO awhile ago. The kids were so cute at the park I had to Scrap it.

We went to a Church women's Conference up at BYU over my birthday. It was so wonderful to spend that uplifting time with my Mom and Sister. I appreciate them as women in my life and I am grateful that I could have them as examples of how to live.

I have so much more I want to write but I don't have the time so... More to come.

Prayer and Parenting

I am not sure why some of those links didn't work. It was only the links to children's place.

I was reminded today of an experience we had a few weeks ago while in California. I didn't write about it sooner because it was to tender but now I am afraid if I don;t get it down I won't remember it at all.

Sarah has a really hard time with life when she:

• A. Doesn't get enough sleep
• B. Doesn't eat right and
• C. Doesn't get enough parent time.

Well vacation leads to all of these and by the end she is usually a very hard person to handle. We were getting ready for church and something set her off. I don't even remember what. She started to scream and yell kick and thrash around like a mad women. Ryan took the other kids down stairs while I "handled" the situation. I had been praying for guidance with how to handle her when she gets like this. I stayed very calm. I told her she had to sit in the corner until she could calm herself down and then her timeout would start. Once she made the decision we had a quiet ten minutes or so. Then I talked to her.
I felt like Heavenly Father was feeding the words to her through me. I asked her if she should apologize and she did. The I suggested that there was some one else that she needed to apologize to as well. She agreed and we knelt in prayer. She started to get a little up set a gain and asked if I would say the prayer for her. I explained that seeking forgiveness needs to be done by us and it needs to be between us and our Father. She need started to get more upset. I could hear the holy ghost whisper to me, "She is upset because she feels bad". This amazing love for my dear girl enveloped me as I realized this.
Then I began to think of the times when she acts up and it is when she feels the worst and doesn't know how, in her 6 year old mind, to reconcile those feelings. Things made so much sense to me. I asked her if she wanted to read scriptures with me before she said her prayers and she agreed. I just opened up with no spot in mind to read. I proceeded to read and it talked about forgiveness and our Saviors love for us. I was so touched I started to cry and so did she. She wept openly and I felt like our spirits were communicating spirit to spirit. She then said the most touching prayer I have ever heard and I felt hope and an amazing amount of love for her. I held her for along time and just expressed to her how much her Savior, Heavenly Father, and I love her. I felt like Heavenly Father has an important role for her in this life and my job as her mom is to help her reach that potential. I know that Heavenly Father knows we are capable of so much if only we will put our trust in him and move forward.