Thirty Ways #19: Do Less

Make time to ponder, to relax, to think, to feel, to experience, to listen, to study, to grow, to love and share.  In all the serving and helping and enabling and encouraging and building and peacemaking and working and constructing and creating etc please take time to just feel.  To enjoy.  To love. You will feel in the quiet, an opportunity for the Savior to reach you.  An opportunity for Him to speak to your heart.  It can be a beautiful experience.

Thirty Ways #18: Make Gingerbread Houses

 Great wonderful friends invited us over last night to make gingerbread houses with them!! We each made two.  We kept one and we are giving away one.  SO FUN. We love to do this.  She made the gingerbread for us and everything. What a dear. So creative too.  When I saw her house and her fun ideas I realized once again how some people are just incredibly creatively gifted. Never fear though, for all of us who are marginally creatively gifted (or not at all like me.... :)) there are plenty of pre-made kits you can buy where all you do is set them up.

 

Christmas offers lots of activities and opportunities to be together.  Building friendships and strengthening families and feeling love for and from each other are all things that bring us closer to Jesus Christ.



And this is just a quick shot of our little one ready for her dance recital.

Thirty Ways #17: Read The Book of Mormon

When I read the Book of Mormon, I feel close to Jesus Christ, almost like I have spent time with a dear friend.  I feel like I know Him better than when I started.  This happens particularly when I read for longer periods of time.  Christ's gospel is so clearly explained in the Book of Mormon and there are so many great examples in the stories and history that is told.  Similarly to the Bible, I find myself learning from it all.

You can go to this great link to read an online, search-able copy of The Book or Mormon.  http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng  I recommend 3 Nephi 11.  There is an account where Christ comes to visit an ancient people in the Americas.  3 Nephi 11

Also, here are the rest of the suggested scriptures to read one a day.  I recommend you read them and then discuss them and read some more and talk with your families about what they are trying to teach.

December 10 Jacob 7:11-12
December 11 1 Nephi 10:4
December 12 1 Nephi 11:13-`8
December 13 1 Nephi 11:20, 21, 24
December 14 1 Nephi 11:27
December 15 Helaman 14:3
December 16 Helaman 14:5-6
December 17 Luke 1:30-31
December 18 3 Nephi 1:13
December 19 3 Nephi 1:19
December 20 Luke 2:4-7
December 21 Luke 2:8-11
December 22 Luke 2:12.14
December 23 Matthew 2:1-2
December 24 Luke 2

Read the Bible: Thirty Ways #16

The absolutely best way to make Jesus Christ more a part of this Christmas season is to read the words of the Prophets about Him in the Bible http://lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng (and the Book of Mormon, more on that later).  There are some great "scripture a day" programs I will share below. And also an awesome link to a search-able online Bible and an index by topic http://lds.org/scriptures/tg?lang=eng for it so you can choose your own scriptures to read on any topic.  And also I will include a list of our favorite verses to read about Jesus Christ.  If you do anything at all this Christmas to focus more on the Savior, this will work better than anything else, with a close second from serving others.

Scripture a Day until Christmas

December 1:  Isaiah 7:14  "Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name immanuel."
December 2:  Isaiah 9:6  "Unto us a child is born..."
December 3:  Micah 5:2 "out of thee shall He come forth"
December 4:  Jeremiah 23:5 "I will raise unto David a righteous branch..."
December 5:  Isaiah 40:3-4 "The voice of Him who crieth in the wilderness..."
December 6:  Jeremiah 33: 14-15 "I will perform that good thing..."
December 7:  Isaiah 40:11 "He shall feed his flock.."
December 8:  Psalms 24:9-10 "Who is the King of Glory?"
December 9:  Jeremiah 23:6 "In His days, Judah shall be saved..."
More later, from the Book of Mormon too.

Do you want to search for a specific word or phrase in the Bible? Do you want to know where a specific story is so you can read it again? Go to this online searchable set of scriptures. http://lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng
It is very user friendly.

And then if you want to look for Jesus Christ in an index and then go to some of the references listed for the Bible, go to this link
http://lds.org/scriptures/tg?lang=eng

We are going to read all the references to Jesus Christ The Good Shepherd and Jesus Christ Redeemer.  It will take awhile, a few days at least, but I look forward to every minute. 

Let me add a footnote here. We just finished our devotional for the night. So fun!! We picked out some families to do 12 days for and the kids listed some things they want to give them.  And then under Jesus Christ The Good Shepherd in the Topical Guide of the Bible, we found the 23 Psalm.  The kids recognized it and love it. They have heard it to music before.  And then under Jesus Christ Redeemer, we read some of the story of Job.  I am so inspired by him.  And the kids were amazed.  After all he had been through, his testimony and declaration that Jesus Christ is our redeemer is powerful.

Thirty Ways #8-15 or so: Service, Service, and more Service

I was thinking of what makes Christmas really special for us. And it is when we serve, when we feel like we have made a difference in someone's life.  Here are some ideas of things we have done or our friends have done to serve.  I share them thinking that you might find joy and fun and blessings in doing the same with your families.

We love to do 12 days of Christmas for people.  We start on day one and give them 1 thing up until 12 days on Christmas eve when we are giving them 12 things....which is usually a CD with 12 tracks or 12 brownies or napkin rings or something. But anyway, it is super fun for the kids to leave it on the doorstep and run.

We love to do the traditional make and deliver cookies.  As much work as it is, the kids are the most excited about this activity. And we include all kinds of people in our delivery pool.

We have gone to elderly care homes and delivered cards and ornaments and talked with the residents. This is super fun too because they get really excited to have kids visit.  Families have joined together and did a sort of talent show for them as well.  I want to do this some day.

(I will stop talking in the first person:))

You could make and mail cards and packages to the soldiers.

You could assemble hygiene kits, education kits, newborn kits, etc. in your home with your kids and ship them to Salt Lake.  http://classic.lds.org/humanitarianservices/0,19749,6208,00.html

You could quietly choose a family or a couple people or a couple families to serve during the holidays and anonymously mail them gift cards or drop off a box of fun Christmas cheer at their house.

You can organize a caroling group and visit the houses of friends and invite them to join you. Super fun!!

You could serve lunch at a soup kitchen.  Union Gospel Mission in Fort Worth is a wonderful wonderful organization.  http://www.uniongospelmissiontc.org

You could help stock a soup kitchen.  You can help any and all battered women's organizations in your area. Their shelters are always in need of supplies and love and cheer.

You could invite your friends' children over for a kids party right in the middle of the busy holiday season. Their parents will be grateful. And the kids will have super fun.

You can serve at any and all Ronald McDonald houses over Christmas and change lives. My dear friend was blessed by such service and it meant so very much.  What a hard time to have a sick hospitalized child.

Etc Etc Etc.  Look around. There will be specific ways you can serve in your area every day. I was just telling a dear friend today. I would much rather be super busy serving than be super busy doing anything else.  It isn't as draining.  Instead it kind of fills you up.

Anyway, we will be implementing many of these throughout the holidays but it becomes tricky reporting on your service activities so I just thought I would throw out the big list to choose from over the next couple weeks. 

If you have any other ideas or experiences to share, I am looking for more. Please let me know.

Watch LDS Christmas Programs: Thirty Ways #7

We had an awesome day.  Tonight we watched parts of a Christmas concert with the kids and we decorated our main tree.  (I say main tree because this year we set up that additional inspirational tree in the other room.)  See  Original thirty ways  And then we were blessed to see the annual Christmas devotional from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. wow. It was phenomenal. Talk about bringing Christ into Christmas.  We got some great ideas from them too about how to keep this Christmas a meaningful one.

The concert we watched, "Ring Christmas Bells" has a story behind it.  Dustin and I were married at Christmas time and we like to get back to the Salt Lake City Temple Square area at Christmas time when we can.  For our anniversary last year we took a quick trip to see the annual Christmas concert at the conference center in Salt Lake City.  We were so so blessed because our dear kind awesome and wonderful friend Glen sings in the choir and was able to get us tickets on the SECOND ROW.  Anyway, we aren't sure if it was because it was second row or our date trip or just a truly exceptional concert but we loved it and it is one of the highlights of Dustin's life he just told me.  So, it is well worth seeing.  Anyway, we showed the kids the retelling of the story surrounding "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." 

 The annual Christmas Devotional can be seen here by December 6th.  http://lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2010/12?lang=eng 
It was really so so inspiring! The music was beautiful, the talks were heart changing and very timely.  We loved it and found ourselves lingering together in the family room after it was over.

We ate yummy cinnamon rolls. mmmmmm.  Thanks Grandma Jane for the recipe.

This is what it looks like right when we are done BEFORE I tweak it tomorrow when the kids are at school. :)

Fun Community Events: Thirty Ways #6

Hi there,
Well, this activity was admittedly not at all Christ focused.  And my plans to have a follow up devotional last night fell through.  But of course, December is an awesome time of year to participate in community events, shows, plays, parades, lightings, carriage rides etc.

We went to a local showing of the Nutcracker and it was so beautiful.  I was very impressed.  If you are in the area, here is their website http://www.lifesongstudio.com  It was great for us all to be out having fun together.  In the past, we have seen the Rockettes together, attended various live nativities, participated in concerts etc.  Later in December we will be seeing Annie in a local theater in the round type place.  Http://www.artisanct.com
Wish I had a personal picture. This one will have to do for now.

Nutcracker Photo &

Talk about Jesus: Thirty Ways #5

I am including everything we do this month even things like this which don't seem very creative.  But today we sang our Christmas carol, said a prayer, and talked about Jesus.  We talked about some of the things He did on earth. We mentioned all the people he healed. We talked about calming the storm.  We talked about washing the disciples feet, about His hours in Gethsemane, about his time on the cross.  We talked about His return.  The kids are so excited for Him to come back some day.  We talked about the scripture, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ."  It was a great quiet evening.  We felt closer to Him.

This year, I have also added several more word phrases to help us think of Jesus more.  It is still a work in progress, but this has been great fun.

Christmas Stories: Thirty Ways #4

We love to read stories! Over the years we have collected several binders full of Christmas stories designed to share one a day until Christmas.  Today, being December 1st. We read the Gift of the Magi...or at least a smaller kid friendly version.  It was fun to talk about love. 

And this month is also all about fun!! We can't forget all the activities we do that just encourage togetherness! One thing is a tradition we started last year and it brings ALL the family together.  We decorate with candy!

We tried another new thing last year.  I saw this fun handmade garland at a friends' house and loved it immediately.  I think I am a die hard fabric lover. :)  That is a string of lights.  We tied on strips of fabric and laid it along the back and sides of the couch.  LOVE IT!

Kindness Chain, Thirty Ways #3

Tonight was fun to see.  We read in Matthew in the Bible how Jesus told the disciples that the sheep on his right hand were those who fed and clothed and served Him on earth and explained that "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Beautiful beautiful scripture, one of my very favorites.

So we talked about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday and if we want to give Him a present, the best thing would be for us to serve others.  We started a kindness chain. Every time someone in the family does something kind we record the act on a strip of paper.  Then on Christmas Eve, we string all these strips of paper together in a chain of kindness and gifts we have given to Jesus this month.  The kids get super excited. In fact, we ended the meeting and within 3 minutes, there were already two strips with kind acts written on them.  So this really works!!! :) Then they wanted to draw secret service names for the week too which we did.  Each person has a another person in the family to secretly serve all week long.  Great meeting, great times with the family.

This evening was the first time there were some conflicts with our time. Our oldest is overwhelmed about a huge test tomorrow, Dustin walked in from work late, and the four year old was having trouble finishing her dinner. But everyone settled and calmed while we sang our Christmas carol and said our prayer.  Just when you think there is no way to add one more thing to an evening (like a Christmas devotional) you realize that one more thing might be the most important of all the things.

Thirty Ways #2

As Promised, Mandi taught our lesson tonight on Mercy and Grace.

We want to focus on all the blessings we have because of Jesus Christ.  Mandi taught us that Mercy and Grace are the infinite virtue.  We learned that we all give our very best which is never quite good enough to return to Heavenly Father but then Christ makes up the difference so we can.  Everyone's very best, their 100% is different. It doesn't matter.  When we give our all, Christ completes the path and we can return to Him some day.  And even better, He helps us to do our best, enabling us along the way.  It is the beautiful power of Grace.  It was a nice evening and decorating (and eating) Gingerbread people was super fun too.

Thirty Ways to Add Christ to Christmas

Hello everyone!
We have started our Christmas holiday season and I just LOVE it and the kids are really appreciating it and so I thought we would share what we do each day.

Yesterday was the first day and we set up a new smaller tree in a different room.  On this tree were all our symbols of Christ in Christmas.  We had a lesson about each symbol and then put them up on the tree.  We will add some more to it, but this is how it started:

Stars:  We found some glittery start ornaments and talked about how Christ is the light of the world. And He always leaves a path to find Him.  When He was born, God put a new start in the sky, announcing His birth and leading people to Him.  We can see the path God left for us to find Jesus today through our scriptures and the prophets words.

Bell:  We found some bell ornaments.  We talked about how shepherds call their sheep using a bell and by name.  We know that Jesus calls us to be part of His flock. He wants us to follow Him. We need to listen for His voice and do what He says.  The bell calls the sheep together for safety and for food.

Candy Canes: We love to decorate with candycanes.  We talked about how if a sheep strays from the flock, the shepherd uses the crook to bring him back in.  If we make poor choices and stray from the flock, we can repent and be brought back in with the shepherds crook.

And we put up a nativity set of ornaments. It had all the pieces. So as we hung up each piece, we talked about how that character is important in the birth of Jesus.

It was a beautiful evening. We all love it.

We will be focusing on the Atonement of Jesus through this next month as well as ways to serve Him and more about His teachings.  Tonight we asked our 13 year old daughter to teach us about Mercy and God's grace and how it applies to her. We'll see what she comes up with. :) And we will be decorating gingerbread people.  I better get baking!!!

I told the kids no matter what is going on through December, the 7 PM hour is mine. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Noah loves to chase the chickens at grandma/pas!!!

What a swing!! It's like in the movies.

Our loves

Audrey loves Dance!

She is having so much fun!

Noah loves whatever we are all doing! He is so much fun!

We love to be with Grandma!

We love each other, and we remember that lots of times! :)

I worked out today!!!

I debated over whether this announcement should be a whole blog post or just a status update on facebook.  And I thought it was big enough news to write a paragraph or two about it...also, I don't want all my facebook friends to know I never work out. :)

So, I have been having some less than healthy couple of months. I won't go into details, but I am a bit concerned so I decide that finally in my 37th year, it is time to start working out.  But I need some serious advice here!!!!!

1.  It is so boring. I chose to walk with our jogging stroller and 18 month old around our neighborhood lake/pond.  It is a great little curcuit, some uphill and some down, but wow!!!! NOTHING to do but walk and walk and walk.

2.  Have you ever exercised in a sauna?? Yeah, well, that was me this morning.  I am all showered and dressed for the day and sitting in my air conditioned house STILL sweating.

3.  It seems so hopeless, like I have to do this every single day for a whole month or something before I will notice it even helping me at all.

OK, so give me some encouragement. advice, help, what do you do to work out?

Thanks....

Football, parakeets, singing in church

Wow, this post would sure be more exciting if I had some great pictures. I am working on it.  My camera is kind of well, not working so........This is the best I can do.
Football, our town is a little bit excited about football.  I have never seen anything like it.  Every Friday all the kids wear our school color. We only have one highschool in our town so every school has the same mascot and color.  Anyway, on Fridays which are game days for the highschool, all the kids in all the schools have a spirit day and wear our colors.  Very cool.  The moms all wear sequined spirit t-shirts and hats and things. There is a total market for crafty women who make stationary, hair bows, shoe laces, t-shirt designs, skirts, pencils, you name it. If it has our school colors and info on it, we buy it.  Football starts when we are VERY young.  4-5 to be exact.  Ben has been playing since then.  And this year he just began tackle.  He is 8.  He is considered big for his age (90 lbs) so they red tape him and he plays on the line.  Anyway, the point of all this is just to share that he practices THREE times a week at 2 1/2 hours each practice and has a game every Saturday.  He game last Saturday was a 4 hour experience.  wow. So who has time for anything else?

We do.  In fact, we just bought two cute parakeets.  Again, pictures to come.  But the girls have been wanting a pet.  I did and do not want to handle anything to do with pets so it is all up to Dad and the girls to keep these dear birds alive. It has been great fun for all the kids and an awesome babysitter for the 18 month old!!

My girls have caught the drama bug...yes, drama happens all the time, but I am talking about actually on stage!! :)  So, we have one in a show called, The Wiz.  Ever heard of it? It is the African American version of the Wizard of Oz.  The last time it has been seen by large audiences is on TV with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Yeah.  But anyway, should be fun, lots of dancing and singing.

The other daughter is trying out for Annie this month. Wish her luck!!

And then of course, we also have soccer going on. My other son LOVES Soccer.  He also loves tennis and want to play basketball this winter. And somehow in all this, he really wants to try football to see if he likes it. I mean, we can't NOT do football right? right?

And it was just such a cool experience for us.  The ward music specialist (the lady at church responsible for the music on Sundays) called and asked us to participate with some sort of musical number.  Wow, we are not performers, but I told her yes and the three girls sang together. Wow, they were brave.  Our little 4 year old started them off with the first line of the song. So cute.  You never know what you or your kids can do until you try.

And then there is the subject of fashion.  I can't help it. I must blog about this.  WHY can't large flannel shirts and birkenstocks and thick wool socks come back into style??? I mean, come on!! IT has been over a decade now and it is about time people!!  I think I came into my best look in the early 90s when I could go to my college classes with curly, somewhat messy hair and those before mentioned items of clothing. sigh.

OK, that's it for now. So much more to say.

Room Makeovers

'

Mandi's room

Sarah's Dresser, I added fabric to the front with a staple gun, and a little padding.  I want to paint it white and change the knobs, but this is the start.

Sarah's room. She still needs a bed frame.

Mandi's room

Swiss Family Robinson

Hello!
I have so many posts planned and not enough time to post them.
From the first page of Swiss Family Robinson:

"My beloved children, God can save us, for nothing is impossible to Him.  We must however hold ourselves resigned, and, instead of murmuring at His decree, rely that what He sees fit to do is best, and that should He call us from this earthly scene, we shall be near Him in heaven, and united through eternity.  Death may be well supported when it does not separate those who love."

Well worth the read. I highly recommend this book for all families.

They surprised me!!

Surprise!!

I went to Costco last night because I didn't want to have to go on my BDAY. Dustin rallied the kids and they cleaned the house AND decorated AND wrapped my presents AND were ready to party with me when I returned.  SO FUN! I love my little family. They are so thoughtful and good to me.

One of my presents is very very fun.  It doesn't actually come out until June 24 or so....

 

but you see, I have had the original I-phone since it was first created which is a very slow machine with only a little bit of memory. :)  AND you see, they are just happening to release the new one in JUNE, in my birthday month, SOOOOO  I get a new one! Yippeee!!! :)  When I first got the I-phone, I thought it was fun for Dustin to get it for me and to load things on it for me and to set it all up etc.  But it really has become such an invaluable tool for me now. I use the calendar and maps most of all.  You would not believe how many times I get lost in a day. I am directionally challenged in a HUGE way. :) But I also love my tunes on there, the movies, general conference from our church (http://www.lds.org) the church directory with maps and phone numbers, the scriptures, and now I will be able to get a library of books on there. It is way cool.  Wanna know another cool thing? I can read in the dark with that thing! So if I am sitting by a lonely child, or can't sleep, I can pull it out and read scriptures or check email, or even get on facebook. Very great for soccer/baseball/basketball/football games too.  I am sure you all have one too, but I am feeling a little excited about my new one in just a week or so!!!

Today

A Day in the Life of:

I am in quite the blogging slump so this may be totally boring to you, but I might find it interesting in a few years. :)

We all got up at 7 this morning. (Dustin was off to work at six--poor guy--always feel bad for the men who work in the summer.  I was up with him too.) I just keep doing my Mommy job in the summer time which started at 7 today.

8:00 I went to cub scout day camp with my son Ben.
He was so excited and had three great buddies right there in the den with him.  I stayed around helping everyone get settled and organized. I am the Primary President and felt a need to make sure our kids were in the right place and leaders felt comfortable.  I drove out the driveway and down the street and couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to go back and check on things and talk to Trudy.  She is an expert scouter who works with our boys.  I asked her how she feels the cub scout program is running.  Learned some new valuable pieces of info. And then drove off to head back home.

Returned home at 9. 
Fed the children who had not yet had breakfast. My older girls are such a blessing to me.  They were home watching everyone else while I dropped Ben at camp.  And then I started to clean up the kitchen a bit at which time I remembered that my friend was taking me out to lunch because tomorrow is my birthday. SO nice. :) I got in the shower and actually round brushed my hair and got ready.

12:00 Lunch with a friend.
We went to Brio. It was REALLY tasty. And the conversation was wonderful.  We laughed and cried.  And I felt very close to the Lord as we were talking about some of her life's decisions she feels good about. It was a great lunch. 

2:00 Then the girls had friends over.
Audrey went to play at Gracie's.  I left to pick up Ben and two friends at camp. James came over to swim.  I cleaned the kitchen floors and counters and did the dishes (finally, it was from breakfast and lunch now too) THEN the wonderful lawn crew showed up to trim our bushes. We are having a work dinner over here on Saturday night and it all needed to be trimmed.  Last week Dustin and I tried to do it ourselves like usual and died of heat and almost got swarmed by wasps so we gave up.  :) It was one of those moments when it was easy to convince Dustin to pay for someone else to do it. They did a great job!!

4:00 I made spaghetti and brocolli for dinner. Some of the children cheered and some cried. :)
Then I asked them to all do their power hour.  We do it every day where they spend some time learning.  So they are all quietly sitting and working.  It is a happy moment.  Noah is a bit bored though and when I sat down to blog, he pulled my hands away and tried to get my attention.  So I have been interrupted two or three times to run races in our front room with Noah, then to feed him some more yogurt in his chair, then to wash him up from that. Then he wanted to go outside, then I had to get up to check on him out there because he is alone. The yard is fenced but still he needs supervision afterall.  And then Dustin got home from work and I helped him bring up the garbage cans. whew! And now we are up to the present moment.

7:00 Tonight we will have a lesson together as a family and pray and read the scriptures. And then we will go to bed.

Not a super busy day, almost just right.
And I almost forgot it was FLAG DAY!!!!!

Glimpses

Mandi and Tia 

The kids looking for Ducks 

Waiting to ride the train

Cub Scouts!!!

Cub Scouts rock!!!
What was that? Yes, totally rock. I never understood the mystery that is scouting until here I am, forced to learn all about it because of my calling at church. Cub scouts is seriously the BEST thing for 8-10 year old boys!! They pound things, build things, create things, collect things, play hard, learn responsibility, learn leadership, have some serious character development, and MOST OF ALL, provide all kinds of opportunities for parents to interact with their boys in productive ways. Cubs creates good scouts who create fantastic men.

SO, I am all about it!!! I got my shirt, my badges; I am getting trained. I even learned a couple cheers and SKITS!!! Day Camp here I come!
http://www.scouting.org

Choose the Right

Do you remember Indiana Jones? Remember that part where he drinks from the wrong cup and totally gruesomely explodes in your face and then that old guy says, "He chose poorly" Wow. Yucky visual image. But you know, it is all about our choices. And more than ever, I think the most important choices are those little ones we THINK don't really matter, the kinds of choices that mark us as borderline or rock solid. I don't really have an opinion about what these might be, but it is helpful for me to analyze my life and pay attention to where I stand.
That's it.

Locker space???

Wow! All this paperwork happenned in just a few minutes!!
What on earth! Is that a plunger!!!????? Unused but can I ever use that counter again???
The kids emptied lockers and desks into their bags at school and when they got home, they couldn't stand their bags so messy......
I am kind of amused by it all. I wonder what they thought.....

Summer, Summer, Summer Summer!!!!

Yay for Summer!!!
Let the fun begin!!! I LOVE having all my kids home! I LOVE being in charge of our family schedule once more!!!! I LOVE deciding at 9 AM that we all feel like going to the aquarium, so we do it!!! I LOVE that we can go to bed when we want to. I LOVE that we can wake up when we want to!!! I LOVE to be with these kids. and I really really really LOVE teaching them myself!! :)

We usually have some kind of summer learning motivating program. This year, it is more typically education based. I have field trips and extra fun, but they have a few work books to complete this summer before we are all through....

Don't worry for my kids. I am seriously more fun than work. So we will get our fair share. And the rewards make them super excited. I have tried all kinds of things. And given the age difference of my kids, I am going to do a couple different rewards systems. Mandi, Sarah, and maybe Ben will all get to pick a big reward for the end of the summer. If they complete the workbooks and other tasks, they will get their prize. Andrew and Audrey will have a big prize box that they can pick out of as we go along when they reach certain milestones. Very fun. I might get some candy for the big kids too to keep them motivated here and there. :) But I LOVE this! And I love it that the kids do too! :)
Mandi already has her prize all picked out...
VERA BRADLEY

All work, no play for Uncle Scott

We were so so HAPPY to see Uncle Scott this weekend! Dustin's brother is a one of a kind soul who fits right in and makes everyone happy. He and Dustin are really close. Scott's wife Kristy and I really enjoy them and enjoy being together. It is just great all round. Poor Scott came out here to go to a workshop and then have some good ol Texas fun!!! Did we give it to him? Oh yeah!!!!
First, he played Wii with the kids. We had him groovin' to Just Dance to Eye of the Tiger, Girls just wanna have fun, who let the dogs out.... (sorry no pictures)

Then, he fixed our computer until 2:00 AM with Dustin.

Then, he worked all day from our house.

Then, we went to Cheesecake factory, yeah some fun finally.

Then, we didn't take him to see the Grascals (a Blue Grass band)

Then, he worked on the computer some MORE

Then, he woke up and did chores with us, went to Mandi's horse riding lesson, went to an electronics store, fixed the computer some more, did yard work in extreme humidity.

Then, he went to get good hand mixed shakes with us...

Then, he fixed the computer some more

Then he went to bed.

Woke up, fixed the computer some more, and went to the airport.....

Poor Uncle Scott. We love you and hope you still come back again to play and bring Kristy too!!!

Love, Dustin and Jen and the kids

Dustin's Mother's Day Talk...

Dustin gave a really great Mother's Day talk today. This is how he began his talk. I loved it.

Mother’s Day

It is a privilege to get to share with you my thoughts on mother’s and motherhood today. It is a privilege because I think I recognize at least to some extent, what an important role you mothers have in making life better, endurable, enjoyable and comfortable for everyone, and how grateful each of the rest of should be to you for your influence.

Two weeks ago, along with some of you, my wife Jen travelled to Utah to attend Women’s conference at BYU. I was excited that she would be able to relax a little, and be away from the pressures and responsibilities she carries here at home. So off she went.

She was gone only from Wednesday to Saturday. Not long. Shorter than many of the business trips many here take all the time. But during that time, I’m sure I’ve never been busier in my whole life. From waking the kids up in the morning for school, to making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to driving the kdis to theature practice, baseball practice, and every other activity. To even curling Mandi’s hair for her theatre performance. Yes, both curlers and a curling iron. I had moments of frustration, anxiety, discouragement, tiredness, and hunger. When Jen called home and asked the kids how I was, they answered, “Oh, dad seems stressed.”

If I didn’t appreciate all Jen did before this, I learned to appreciate her then. After watching her give her time, her talents, and everything she can to guiding and rearing our children, I am convinced that there is no role in life more essential and eternal than that of motherhood.

What type of girl are you?

There are all kinds of awesome girls out there... women now aren't we? I was just talking with a group of friends about how we can't believe we are old. But anyway, the female half of the race come in all different emotional shapes and sizes. There are the girls who are totally girly, who LOVED sleepovers, who loved giggles, who had all the dolls, who played house, who loved to babysit, who can get along with girls wherever they go. Always have lots of girlfriends, always will. There are girls who are more active. Who prefer running around to sitting and playing, who bore quickly of dolls and would prefer something more, well, active. They often end up playing with lots of boys because they are the other active ones. :) They tend to be more down to earth. And grow to prefer boy company to girl company. Not real tom boys but not girly either. They usually find it hard to relate to the center of activity in a group of giggling and whispering and complimenting. There are the mean girls who found out they can intimidate people into friendship, there are the controlling girls who try to manipulate their way through life. There are the sweet kind girls, the shy girls, the outgoing student council-leadership types......all kinds of girls in this world. Girls who would hate this post because they try to not fit into any label. (don't like labels myself) Isn't it interesting that with all these different feminine types floating around, we are also all the same in many ways...

Two Internet Browsers

Hi everyone!
This is just a quick blog because I am so happy to be back online. I have spent the last MONTH without Internet!!! I could get emails just fine, but Internet Explorer was broken. The latest update messed with a ton of our software. Anyway, because of that, I have felt seriously deprived!!! You would be amazed at what a useful tool the Internet is in my daily life. (probably in your life too) For example, I couldn't pay the bills, I couldn't research my kids' symptoms, I couldn't look online for advice on my new calling and to do the trainings, I couldn't learn about cubscouts (my new calling is in Primary with the children at church), I couldn't shop for all kinds of things I think I need, I couldn't order pizza!!!!! I couldn't BLOG, I couldn't even download another browser to use on my computer!!!! I was without hope.

So, my advice to all of you is to always have two browsers on your computer to use in case one shuts down. I am using Mozilla Firefox right now, love it!!! And beware updates!!!!!

Just one that makes me smile

Mandi's Birthday Bash

Our little sweet Mandi turned 12. (in December) And even though I sort of wish it hadn't happenned yet, we still wanted to celebrate in a big fun way. I'll share what we did because it was SO WAY FUN!!!!

We have an outdoor shopping mall near us. So we had all the girls meet us there at 3. Then we split them into groups of 4 or 5. We gave each group $10 and told them to buy as much as they possibly could in 15 mintues. They took off. They were SO excited. One group came back with 15 things and spent just under $10. Then we redivided the groups and gave them a list of things to take pictures of while doing. Very fun!! Here is what we did:

"Riding up an escalator
Wearing a tiara
Wearing one high heel shoe
Washing hands in a bathroom
Looking at an information map of town square
Everyone in the group wearing sunglasses
Sitting on one of the town square cows
Trying to hide behind a tree or bush
Asking someone politely for the time
Wearing hats
Wearing a feather boa
One team member trying on an unmatched outfit
Spelling out YMCA with a store employee
Holding hands with a guy
Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together
Standing on the Second Floor waving down to the first
1 team member getting makeup applied
Laying on a bench
Sitting around the fountain in funny poses
Asking for an employment application (give it back) J
Opening the door for 4 people
Doing the wave

Put a check next to each task completed. Take a picture. First one to the Theater wins! If you can’t complete it, all teams must be at the theater by 4:00 PM sharp!! Winner will be the team with the most completed first."

THEN we saw a movie. Tooth Fairy. It was OK. The girls thought it was hilarious. My only criteria was that it was clean. It was a matinee and they all still qualify as children (much to their dismay) and then we went to a nearby pizza place for dinner. It was so much fun. I wish I could do it again this weekend. When I get around to it, I'll flip through the pics and see if there are any memorable ones. :)

What means Most this week?

Hi! I have been doing a lot these past couple weeks. Busy Busy Busy. But it is interesting. The thing I did that brings me the most satisfaction, that I am most proud of, the one I really wanted to blog about.... I took lots of pictures of me and Audrey close together.

Then she painted a small wood heart frame.

And we picked a picture, put it inside her frame and hung it on her wall. (sorry no picture of the finished product yet) But that is my favorite thing I have done lately. Isn't that interesting. Love that girl!!!

Give to Help Haiti

https://secure3.convio.net/ldsp/site/Donation2?df_id=1861&1861.donation=form1&s_src=14703

I saw this on my church website http://www.lds.org

Please click on the above link and donate to help the people in Haiti. All funds go directly to help those in need.

Thanks!!!