Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Abby says,

"I miss her tons and tons."

"I have no one to play with when she's gone."

I caught this picture the other day.

Love it.

 

Growing a man

 

 This boy of mine.

He loves his mamma.

He asked me for a XBOX.

I said no.

Playstation?

NO.

Our neighbor has one.

I don't mind it a little here and there.

But,

NO.

You may not sit in your room

with your very own big screen TV,

with head phones on,

and play for hours and hours.

NO WAY.

I say, 

I'm raising you into a man.

I'm raising a missionary.

You've got to know how to work.

How to talk.

How to get along with out being plugged in.

I was addicted to Super Mario Brothers.

We didn't have it at home,

thank goodness.

Just at our cousins.

He has a DS.

I don't really like it much either.

He only has 1 game right now.

He does pretty good.

In the winter I've got to remind him to put it away.

I'm so thankful for our ease of life.

We don't have to hunt for food,

or build or own home from the trees on our land.

But man,

I bet families back in those days knew how to really get things done.

Everyone must have had to pitch in.

I hated work when I was a kid,

but now I see what it did for me.

Ethan.

He's learning way before I did.

Its not easy for him.

See's how some live a different way than we do.

But,

 he's not a brat about it.

He hugs me.

He says he understands.

I'm thankful for him.

He's a sweet boy.

 ♥

Fun in the Winter sun

We went out in the warm winter sun.School started the next day.The kids LOVE to be outside.Devon got a camera for Christmas.Best purchase I've ever made for him.He loves it so much.The kids want a pet.Thinking of a Rat or a Guinea Pig.The lady at the pet store said, "A Ball Python is a good pet for kids."She has 50 animals living at her house!!We want something fuzzy and soft, that's not intended to be eaten. We had a bunny last year.Thumper.He died.Broke Whitney's heart. Never seen a girl so in love with animals. I lost a kitty when I was 8.Whiskers.Cried.All my kitties either got ran over or the dogs killed them.I grew up with animals.Horses,Dogs,Cows,Cats,Pigs,Chickens when I was young.We even had peacocks next door.There was always work to be done.Sometimes I think I'd like that for my kids.Workand Animals.If had a pasture I'd make sure there were underground sprinklers though.I hated changing sprinkler pipes.twice a day.All through the summer.     ♥

Birthdays!

Birthday #1

My sweet Whitney turned 8.

We had her very first friend party.

We planned the details together.

A Butterfly Birthday Bash.

Birthday #2

Kody Carver Cain

7 lbs. 8 oz.
Born to a laboring pro.
Textbook delivery.
My little sister is amazing.
Blessed to be there.
To witness a miracle.






 ♥

In case you miss me.

 I'm busy busy.With school projects,managing PMS,Exercising,and trying to help my little boy be happy.(more on that later)P.S. Kids can be so mean. I CAN'T wait for summer break. ♥

Love her!

 September 9. 2010Birthday surprise at school.7 years old.This girl makes me proud.She and I are kindred spirits.She is very sensitive.I see myself in her everyday.♥

Where would my kids go?

July 2010 Scorpion Hunting  with a black light.

 I watched Raising Helen today while I worked on the elliptical.I got a spin class in too.But, I washed the same load of clothes 4 times.I started the load on Saturday.Ever do that?Anyway, Raising Helen working out and totally bawling.Watching that show gets me a little nervous.I've never prepared any papers in case Jeff and I die.I need to.I've wanted to, over and over I'm just not sure where to start. 


♥

Mom joy

Mac fun at Uncle Jevonn's March 2010   Jeff doesn't work on Fridays.Usually then, Thursday nights are late nights for us.So Friday mornings are a nice break from our 4:45 am routine.The kids still have school though.Yesterday I rolled out of bed at 7:45.The bus comes at 8:10.To my complete joy!!I found my kids fixing their own fried eggs,dressed from head to toe,backpacks and coats ready,vitamins and fish oil taken,and getting along all at the same time.Was I in the Twilight Zone!!??I praised their responsibility and completely gushed over them.Sometimes I feel like a big mom loser.I do things that I want to erase from everyone's mind.Yesterday I felt marvelous!!! In fact right now my girls are in the kitchen cleaning!!!!I didn't ask.I just heard Whit say,"Saturdays we should clean the fridge"My heart just went pitter patter. LOVE IT!!!ps We surprised the kids yesterday with a Rango matinee.It was okay.I won't say it was good. It was littered with the words hell and damn,I was VERY disappointed.

♥

Back to School

The boys are ready.

New shoes.
New clothes.
Haircuts by mom.
They made school year goals.
Learned how to make a first good impression.
Their daddy gave them blessings.

I tucked the boys into bed last night, asked them what they thought about their blessings.
"I almost started to cry."

"Did you feel the Holy Ghost.?"

"Yeah, a lot."

He gave me a blessing too.
Their daddy was crying.
It was beautiful.
Just what I needed to hear.
I love my boys.
and
I
REALLY
LOVE
their Daddy.

♥

Times to remember

Its that time again.
School shopping.
I was brave enough to take all four kids with me.
The school supplies are already done.
I hired a babysitter for that.
But, tennis shoes had to be fitted to 3 growing feet.
We were gone for 4 hours.
4
This usually doesn't go over very well.
Someone's always pretty tired.
Someone's always fighting.
Someone's always irritated.-Any guesses who?


This time was different.
When we were all done we headed to the car.

"How come you guys were so good today?

Whitney beams a smile my way and says,
"We love you mom!!!!
You're the best mom ever, except for Jesus' mom."

I laughed my head off.
Where do kids come up with these thoughts?
Mary.
Me.
I don't know about that.

I enjoyed my children that day.
They listened.
They obeyed.
They were kind.
I was patient.
I let them "smell the roses".
There was no rush.


I thanked them profusely.
Even teared up.
Big Surprise there.
Pulled them all close to me and gave them a big hug.
Asked them if they felt good about the day.
They were all smiles.

We're going out today.
I'll fill up their bellies,
offer 3 Popsicle to the those that are happy shoppers,
and pray that I have the same type of patience that seemed to be around Tuesday.


♥

Preparing for weeping & wailing

I will be introducing the…

Summer

Notebook

Full of

-household chore charts

-computer cash

-prizes to be won

-places to go

-individual goals

-family goals

-brain time activities

The kids are asleep, I'm still preparing.

They won't like all my ideas.

I don't blame them.

But they won't be board and they won't be learning how to waste time.

There will be fun times.

I'll try not to act like an army drill sergeant.

Wish me Luck!

♥

Squeazing some spiritual time into our day. BREAKFAST SCRIPTURES

I've been struggling with making the effort and finding the time to make sure my kids get some spiritual nourishment during their day. There are a lot of excuses that I could come up with but I think #1- It's not a priority and it should be on the very top of my list. So we're all in the kitchen this morning eating breakfast. The computer is in our kitchen right now, I was on it checking emails and GOOGLING how to sew patches on scout shirts. And then a voice in my head said, "Kim, this is the perfect time to read scriptures or do something with these kids so that they know its important." And then like in the movies I kind of got this thing going on:

So, I pushed all the bad thoughts and excuses out of my head and thought for a second. "I have this computer right here and I'm sure there is some kind of media that I could find to accomplish the overwhelming feat of keeping my kids focused on something spiritual for a few minutes." So I GOOGLED teaching children the scriptures and low and behold lots and lots of ideas. My favorite?
....... drum roll please!.........

LDS Scripture Stories

You can read, listen or watch!

I choose to have them watch the stories and they are GREAT!!!! There's even music that's suspenseful at the right moments.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am!!! We're going to be doing the Book of Mormon first, then there's Doctrine and Covenants, and the Old and New Testament. When we get all done we're going to celebrate.

The kids were practically jumping out of their chairs with excitement, and I was one happy mama, because there were no tears and no frustration (from me). Ha!




♥

Turn Back Tuesday

Abby 2006
She looks so YUMMY.

This morning I'm feeling a bit baby hungry as I've sorted through old pictures. My little sister Mel might be having her little one soon. I'm excited!! I can wait to kiss his little cheeks and take in that baby scent.









♥

Abby yo-yo

♥
By mom247 at 2008-10-20