The Weekend

Max's basketball team wond their first game of the season.  It was also the last game of the season...so nice to go out on a good note.  He has been helping with the jr. high team.  He hoped originally to be able to work out with them, but cleaning up isn't the workout I think he was hoping for.  He has enjoyed it though.  The city team he is playing with is a group of kids that put together their own team.  They have lost most of their games by 20 pts. but he is a good sport and still loves to play with them.

Reed and Max and I went and saw the Saratov approach.  I wonder how many parents and missionaries that has scared.  It was a well done movie though.

On Sunday Reed's ward had a farewell for Alex Moreno.  Such a nice kid.  Jadey knows him pretty well, in fact he was her first official date.  So Jadey, Emily and I went and enjoyed that. When we drove up the house Max and Sam were out shooting hoops in their Sunday clothes which made me smile. Then I had sharing time which was pretty low key this week. We had ham and potatoes for dinner and a visit from the Rogers for home-teaching since Bro Passey is sick again.  We watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics and Max had all the kids playing fun run or something like that.  They all get on some electronic device and race each other.  They were having fun and this morning when Sam woke up he insisted that when school was over he and Max would shoot baskets and play that game.

Today is Monday which means laundry, menu planning, new chore charts, early out day, followed by Emily's singing and then guitar lessons. It also means another week has gone by without me setting up music lessons for Hadley...time to get on that.

A Little Valentine Celebrating

Leading up to the big holiday Max had a friend encouraging him to ask another girl to "be his valentine".  I'm still not sure what that exactly means or entails, but he decided to go with it and when we were at Target he picked up a nice heart box of chocolates with star wars on the front. :)
On the big day he gave it to her and he got a hug in return.  One of his friends came to school with a dozen roses his mom got him, and handed them out to several different girls.  Made their day I'm sure.

On the home front I went with a traditional ribs dinner, with something called hasselback potatoes, spinach salad, chocolate dipped strawberries and lemon curd tartlets, with sparkling applejuice to drink. It was fun, but I think heart shaped pizzas would have worked just as well and benn 1/3rd the price...so next year we'll go with pizza.

Reed printed out cute valentines for everyone. He also brought home some yummy frozen yogurt bars, a box of chocolates and some tulips for all of us.  He surprised me with a trip to the BYU MOA while the kids were at school.  They have a special exhibit of loaned artwork of Christ there.  It was amazing.

Reed helped me trade out books at the school which he took to cooly, despite the fact he had never done it before.  They were done in time for me to go help with Hadley's class party and then enjoy a little karaoke in Sam's class party.

Jadey and Livvy wore black...kind of funny.  She went with her friends to the boys basketball game and then with Aunt Kelly for Sushi.

Hearts

What a perfect month to be writing about hearts.
Last night we had a break up.
There were tears as I held my oldest in my arms just as I did when she was a little baby.
Yet, despite the tears there was so much peace.

Peace in my heart that she would come to me and talk and cry and curl up and sleep between Reed and I.  That she would pour out her heart and let us joke with her and console her and give her spiritual guidance.  Peace that she had come to the realization that this was the right step right now as her own decision.  Peace as her siblings reached out to her and wanted to make sure she was okay. Peace that her aunt had time and an ultra big heart to take her in and do her hair and just talk until the wee hours of the next morning. Peace as I heard her make goals for the future. Peace as she turned this into a good thing and not a bitter and angry one.  Peace that she knew she could move on.

I know it will be hard, but I also know, because of my own experiences, that when we do hard things with a peaceful heart we grow so much and our testimonies of God and his infinite love and are strengthened.  And it is worth it.

Quotes I want to remember from last night:
"It all started with the fish dying"
"I feel peaceful about it."
"I've always known I would marry a guy with dark hair."
"I've known in the back of my mind..."


Man I love this girl.  I am so proud of the mature way she is handling this. I am so grateful to be a mother and feel just a small amount of love that Heavenly Father feels for her.

Her heart is soft.
It will heal.

Her future it bright!!!

Everyday

Yesterday went like this...
Wake up (with a sore throat that has lasted for over a week) and make breakfast, fried egg for Jadey and Hadley, toast for Emily, cream of wheat for everyone else.  Reed had left early for a meeting on capital hill regarding some funding.
Scriptures with all the kids but Sam who was still asleep.
Make lunches...no ham so peanut butter and jelly.
Jadey off.
Max off.
Blow dry Emily's hair.
Braid and rebraid Hadley's hair...she's particular.
Girls to school.
Type up a note to cousin Kendall to go with flat Stanley.
Print up a script for Emily to be used in a school skit.
Emails.
Get Sam up and ready.
Homework and breakfast with Sam.
He got done with 15 minutes of spare time so we went to the rec center so he could shoot baskets! A definite highlight of the day.  He made about 3 of every 10, but he doesn't get discouraged.
Took Sam to school.
Chatted with Traci in the carpool lane.
Went to School Community Council Meeting where we discussed goals for next year.
Off to Walmart to pick up a few things.
Home to Jadey.  Had a good talk with her.
Onto my desk organizing project...for hours.
Took a break to go pick up carpool and bring Andy home to play with Sam.  Bryce joined them as well.
Jadey went to clean at the Bockholts.
Pick up girls from school and drop off Andy.
Had to lay down due to the sore throat wearing me out.
Up to finish my project and make dinner.
Somewhere in there Max flashed in and out to let me know what he was doing and Reed texted to say he had dinner with Manu's friends.
Made Taco's.
Finished cleaning out all the top cupboards of the desk.
Girls had friends over for an hour.
Reed got home and took Max and I up to Dr. Oliver's for a "check up" on our sore throats. Very convenient, but I feel bad bothering him at home.
Antibiotics prescribed.
Home...to rest...to sleep.

Hadley

Today Hadley turns 9.
There are so many things I love about her and today I want to list 9.
1. She appreciates beauty. When we cut down our Christmas trees this year the two of us went on a little four wheeler ride and she drove.  I could just imagine the smile on her face as she shared with me how beautiful she thought everything was: the pine trees, the snow covering everything, the mountains.  It brought me back to the days when my dad would take us snowmobilling on trails for hours and I couldn't believe the world was so beautiful and I was so blessed to enjoy it and see it.

2. She enjoys moments.  While full of anxt over the next exciting moment, when it is here she soaks it up.  Every detail, every minute, every person.

3. Her sense of humor. I have to stifle a laugh at the more inappropriate humor, but this girl can put on a character and have us all laughing.  Most notable is the old granny.  It started when her teacher at school was quoted as saying, "I aint your mommy, your daddy, your greasy granny with the big fat fanny." (probably not politically correct).  She turns on her granny voice leans over and takes and turtle stroll while telling us all sorts of granny jokes with "EHHH? I can't hear you." and then some granny dancing and gymnastics.  She and Emily have been known to start in on crazy acts together and it does my heart good to hear them banter humorously, knowing they are building bonds that will last a lifetime.

4. Her smile that scrunches up her freckled nose and lights up her face.

5. She's a hard worker.  She does her chores faster then anyone, especially when playing with a friend is involved.  But she does them well and works hard!

6. She loves to learn.  She likes a challenge and she likes to finish her work.  She rarely has homework because she likes to finish it at school.  She likes a good book and right now American Girl Doll books and Nancy Drew books really draw her in.

7.  She loves to pretend.  I can walk by her room and hear her teaching her class.  No one is in there but her, but there is a great lesson going on.  She also will play primary with Emily and Sam.

8. She is interested in music.  At Thanksgiving she wanted to play a song on the recorder for the talent show and so we pulled up a tutorial on youtube and she taught herself to play jinglebells.  She practiced and practiced and practiced.  I am excited to start her on an instrument this year.

9. She loves me.  She love me to tuck her in, and snuggle with her, and rub her feet with lotion and oils, and tickle her back.

I feel so blessed to be her mom.

Dung Beetle?

Jadey has taken up the word dung in place of crap. I actually think it sounds much less harsh, but everytime she says it I want to follow it up with beetle.

Now I wouldn't be surprised if we found one of those beetles in these parts today. While the dung is not present, the smell is. I guess you could say it's a science experiment gone wrong, or a bad soup. You see less then a month ago some of the kids filled up the water cooler with grass, and apparently some dirt. I'm sure they stirred it up a bit, maybe added a few other spices, some pine needles. After a few rain storms I realized I had better clean it out. So I dumped it out. And threw out the water cooler.

Guess what they really invented?

Homemade dung.

For real.

I smells worse then most cattle ranches and is reeking out into the neighborhood.

The flies are coming.

It is so bad that my stomach lurches when I walk outside.

I have spread it out in hopes of it drying out and stopping it's stinking process...I know there is a real scientific word for that.

If this is what mulch smells like count me out.

Boot legger

This morning started out fantastic with a run with a friend. Exercise is so much more fun when your chatting away during it. We were supposed to go 2 miles, but I lost track and am pretty sure we did more then that. It was a great start to the day.

Em stayed home sick for the second Monday in a row. We are calling it the "Monday sore throat". It is very swollen though, and she is scheduled for a strep test later this evening.

Max twisted his foot last week, and like a good mom, I decided after 5 days of pain that we should take him in. The xray didn't reveal anything, but there is definitely some ligament damage and he is now in a walking boot that should keep things from moving around...11 year old boys are active, that's all there is to it.

Jadey's soccer practice was canceled today due to 6 girls on the team with severe stomach flu. Hopefully we don't end up dealing with that one.

Hadley started reading last week. Talk about exciting. She has to pass of a little booklet at school. I showed her the words and she said "I can't read." I told her to sound them out and whamo, she said "I can read." She was so excited she just kept reading all the words and had a perma grin for the next hour.

Sam does not like baps (naps). I refuse to end them this early. If he had a binky he would like baps, but the binky "broke". I liked it better when he liked baps. He takes them anyway and then wakes up with big hugs for everyone. There are about 9 little boys his age in nursery which means now that school has started for the other kids there are plenty of opportunities for play dates at the park. Fun times.