My Girls

Tonight 2 of my Laurels came over to do manicures. This whole night was instigated by one in an effort to fellowship and befriend the other. I was touched by her efforts.



My own daughters LOVED the activity. They were so excited! We painted every fingernail and toenail we could find in multiple coats. Rooster even painted all my fingers with clear polish. And then we proceeded to admire them, followed by lots of talking complete with hand motions. I think we found a new bonding activity!







I really love my girls. Both my own daughters and my yw daughters. It has been such a treasured experience working in yw. I love our new Bishop. He has such a great vision for the ward. I love that Kurt is apart of that vision of service. I love that I have a glimps into his growth and service with my current service. I love the opportunity I have to love, bare testimony, stand as a witness and to befriend such choice yw. What a strength daughters can be.

THE Bird

Saturday was another one of those days when it was pointless to own a home because we were not in it. Kurt was making another superman change (from work clothes into suit clothes) when he called me.

"There is a crazy bird that keeps flying into the dining room window. Don't open the door cause it's trying to get into the house."

By the time I got back to the house much later that day I found out what he was talking about. The bird was not only flying into the window but pecking at it, annoying and relentless. {Actually I found it pretty creepy.} I made a sign for the window to make sure the kids didn't accidentally let it in:

"Don't open the door. {Crazy bird trying to come in.}"

Kurt gave a fabulous leadership training in ward council yesterday about this crazy bird (which is the point of this post.) Satan is like this bird. Annoying and relentless, pecking at us, flying in all directions trying to get into our lives. Trying to tempt us. We have to keep the door shut, we cannot let him in. Last night he gave the same message to the kids at scripture study. The key phase at our house is, "Keep the Door Shut!"

Dread

I picked up Austin from school yesterday. Mrs. Camp accompanied him out to me. Uh-oh. That never happens. HUGE warning signals were going off in my head.

Mrs. Camp: Can I talk to you for a minute?

Me: Sure. Does Austin need to leave?

Mrs. Camp: No. He knows.

Well the short of it is, Austin went to the principal's office today. That was one experience I was hoping we would never have to have. Jaylin, Chris, Harold and Austin were playing tag where they shouldn't (against the rules from the first day.) They were told twice by the duty teacher to stop and in the end a little girl in their class got hurt (scraped knee.)

Austin was not participating but he was still there.

Jaylin was in his class last year. If anyone is destined to become a thug he would be it. Austin likes him. He likes everyone. But this year I've really been trying to teach him that we can like everyone and be kind but we need to be selective of the friends we choose.

This. is. why.

Austin was scared out of his wits to be in the principals office. Mrs. Camp and I have talked about Jaylin and Chris before and she was hoping that Austin could learn a lesson by being the principal's office to see the consequence of their actions. And HIS actions for being with them.

When talking to Austin about it he continued to tell me over and over. "I told them to stop. But they didn't listen. I was going to leave."

But you didn't leave soon enough my son.

I am praying he learned something in the principal's office and remembering what he has been taught at home. I don't ever want to feel the sinking dread upon hearing, "Austin went to the principal's office today" ever again.

Sprung

We have had lots of rain and typical bipolar weather of spring. But the past two days have been gorgeous! 70's - my optimal temperature. Ahhhhh.

I gave the kids boxes and asked them to fill them with signs of spring. Here is what they found:

{grass, weeds, flowers and dirt}


Here are signs of spring that I found in our yard:

Beautiful Mind

I am in love with my children's minds. They are so brilliant. I love the clever things they say. I love the logic they use to figure out the world around them. I love their honesty and purity.

Right after Easter I listened to the following conversation:

Emma Lynn: Jesus is going to come again to the world. We need to tell everyone that he is going to come.

Spencer: How can we let everyone know?

Emma Lynn: maybe we could write it down.

Spencer: or yell real loud.

Emma Lynn: Let's go to a movie station and make a movie for the world to see.

Spencer: YA! Hey, world! Jesus is going to come again!

{laughter at their brilliant plan.}

~~~~~~

I asked Austin if he had any homework. He told me it was already done. His assignment was to invent something. He made the design, found all the equipment and got it built before I could even offer to help. This was obviously an assignment he was excited to do. He invented a dryer that doesn't use electricity.

Here is his blueprint:


~~~~~~

The very next day Austin came to me and asked if he could have the photo album he had found. I told him sure. He got to work on a secret plan. A little while later he showed me what he had been working on. A diary. I love that this was completely his own idea and every time he writes in it is of his own accord.


{April 13, 2010
O.k. there are four more days until my birthday. I'm so excited! I'l be seven! And tomorrow's Lunch is pizza. And I'm hungry! O.k. Good bye for today! See ya!}

gimpy

Late Saturday afternoon Spencer came upstairs screaming. He was inconsoulable. I finally held him and rocked him to sleep. When he awoke 2 hours later the screaming continued. He was complaining of pain in his left foot and he could not walk. We either carried him or he crawled.

This continued all weekend.

Monday morning the status had not changed. He definitely wasn't "just looking for attention" or "fakin' it." The rest of us had dentist appointment so we added a Dr. visit to his morning too. They took x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken. It wasn't. He sprained his toe.

By Thursday we convinced him to start putting some weight on it. I'm not sure if he'll walk right on it. He's gimping around.

{We found out later that the injury was caused by jumping off the dresser in the play room. Spencer is learning that he cannot fly. What a rude awakening!}

Meanwhile in the same week Rooster's face made contact with a weighted hula hoop that was in full motion. I was at a meeting when it happened. I was shocked to see her face. It left a good mark and bruising.


This is the tail end of the healing and brusing.

Austin also had a collison at school. During P.E. he bonked heads with Emersyn. He came away with a bloody nose that later swelled up and bruised nicely. Emersyn had a nice cut. What a bunch of hard heads.



Hopefully we can get these gimpy kids healed up!

FOUR the record

Interview with Spencer Gene at FOUR:

If you could have one super power what would it be?
fire breathe because i like fire.

What is your favorite chore to do?
bed and prayers because i like to make beds so they can be boingy.

What makes you mad?
people that kid me. like tease me. that makes me mad, MAD.

What's one thing that your mom is always saying to you?
be good.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
a teacher.

What's your favorite thing to do?
watch a movie if i have enough points.

How do you know your mom and dad love you?
because i have an R in my name. R is for Romans. i like R's.

What's under your bed?
K-nexs

Who's your best friend?
(without hestitation) BRAXTON!

What do you love to do with your family?
make good choices and go up to heaven.

Who is your scripture hero?
Jesus because he loves us.

What do you do at bedtime?
turn the light on. (he is currently very afraid of the dark so he falls asleep with the light on and Austin can read to his heart's content.)

Question by Emma: What do you like to do with your dad?
go to work.

What do you like about Vale?
that it has a V for Valley.

Favorites:
animal - lion
food - ice cream and cake and cookies and candy
book - Skippyjon Jones
movie - G-Force (duh!)
color - (in this order) green, red and orange
song - twinkle, twinkle little star
game - Pictureka
clothing - shorts (year round)

What's one thing we should know about you right now?
i like my mom.

Thoughtful

thought·ful   /thawt-fuhl/
–adjective

1. showing consideration for others; considerate.
2. careful, heedful, or mindful: to be thoughtful of one's safety

My eldest daughter comes by this gift naturally. I find it touching. pure. beautiful.

A few weeks ago she made a surprise party for Kurt. He is the receiver of most of her cards, letters and pictures. I'm grateful she realizes his importance, hard work and love for our family. She is always doing something like that for someone.


Complete with arrows pointing to the party.


And a box of snacks so he wouldn't get hungry.


Many pieces of artwork.

Our family is blessed to have such a thoughtful sweetheart. We could all learn a lot from her talent.

Little Steps Graduate

Little Steps is a program they do at Vale Elementary School to prepare the incoming kindergartens get to know the teachers and school. They have it once a month and it is basically like story time. It is a great program, I really like it.

Last night was Emma Lynn's graduation. They took a tour of the school, got to ride on a school bus and had cake and punch. {I was really finding reason to celebrate. August is going to be a hard month. I won't lie - I'm really, really battling with homeschool ideas. Anyways!} My sweet 5 year old had a wonderful time with her friends and is excited for her new adventure!

Dependence

Last Thursday we took both computers to the computer "doctor" {McGowens) in Ontario. The laptop was close to doing nothing and the other computer was moving like frozen molasses.

I was 4 full days (and 2 half) without the use of the computer. Not just the internet but not even any Microsoft WORD options. I WAS DYING!!! I learned that I am completely dependent upon my computers. Utterly. I was struggling to function without it. I haven't decided how I feel about this.

I picked up the main computer yesterday afternoon (the laptop is completely shot. It was my only source of downloading pics with my new camera. So it'll be a while before they show up again...) 2 days later than promised so I had to resort to very old school methods and write out my Presidency meeting agenda by hand. {gasp!}

I'm so happy to have my dependency back. Breathing deep again.

Soccer Season

It has started again. I convinced Austin to sign up again this year (he took a break from soccer last year.) What that means is practices 2 nights a week plus games on Saturday. I like soccer because it is great exercise. Spencer is in for his second year (instruction on Saturday.) Braxton is also doing it this year so Spencer is so happy about that. They have 2 timid girl coaches. With a little direction we'll all get there.

Friday's practice for Austin was miserable because it was raining and super windy. I don't know why they didn't cancel. For that matter I don't know why we went! But after 50 minutes of soaking wet running and drills Austin ran past me, "I'm done." And got straight in the car. You don't have to tell me twice.

I really enjoyed cheering for him during the game on Saturday. It was the first real game experience we had. They didn't win (3 goals were scored for the opposing team within 2 minutes of the game starting. They took pity on us and subbed out their super star player who look like a 4th grader.)

Early morning soccer means FREEZING weather. Time to bundle up for all the side line cheering this season.


my soccer boys


Austin's first game


Buddies in action




Trying to stay warm.