homework, schmo-work.

Lincoln has had a lot of homework lately.  A lot, a lot.  They are preparing for third grade math/reading tests in March.  This is how he feels about homework...

His spelling is improving which makes me so very happy.  We were a little worried there for awhile.

Imagine his excitement when he found this new shirt waiting for him at his 'homework spot' after school today.  It's his new favorite thing to wear.

a few more minutes.

If I ever need a few more minutes to do something (make dinner, sewing, cleaning....) I give Peter a dum dum sucker.  He thinks it's the best thing ever.  Check out all that drool...

our youth.

Jeremy was able to go on our youth temple trip on Saturday and had the best time!  He served as young mens president before he was called into the Bishopric, so it was a real treat for him to spend time with these boys again.  They are like family to us.  We love them so much.

My calling in Young Women's is going well.  There is always something to plan, organize or put together... but I love it.  I feel so at home in this calling.  There is no where that I would rather be.  

toys.

Who needs toys when you have these......

 Another favorite = the camera.  It's hard to get a good picture of him because he just wants the camera!  This is what happens when you don't give it to him as fast as you can.....

Jeremy is going on a trip next month to visit his family and will be taking Peter with him (he's still free!)  I told him that we should just get him his own little cell phone and a remote control and he'll have the easiest flight ever.  Throw in some baby goldfish, fruit loops and milk and it'll be a piece of cake!

chaos.

This is what Martin Luther King, Jr. day looked like at our house.  Lincoln set up a zoo...

Gracie sold shoes....

Jayne had her own little house in the corner....

Graham had his own secret hideout... and Peter tried to get in on the action any chance that he could.

I let the mess stay up for most of the morning and then my anxiety kicked in and I had to have it cleaned up.  We took the kids to McDonald's for lunch (a real treat!)  then we tried to go bowling, or to the movies but had bad luck at both places.  We took the kids to the grocery store and let them pick out a treat and watched a movie at home instead.  It was a crazy, but fun day.

a scare and a belly laugh.

Love this kid.

christmas favorites.

 Now that it's been a month since Christmas and I've been able to use everything I was given.... I have decided that these are my three favorite gifts this year...

My new 'mother's necklace' from my sister-in-law, Emily.  I was telling Jeremy how much I wanted something like this right before Christmas.  I cried when I opened it.  I am in love with it.  The simplicity of it suits me so well.  I'm not a jewelry girl... but I love this necklace so much.  When we add more children sometime down the road, I can get a circle charm for the center.  It's perfect.

 My awesome Kermit mug.  This was a surprise gift from Santa in North Carolina.  I am a Muppet freak.... and Kermit is my favorite.  Nothing like a cup of hot cocoa in this mug!  I have been known to drink water from it too... it isn't as fun as hot cocoa but the kids know it's my favorite and they make sure that it's next to my plate for dinner any chance they can. 

I have the best friend ever.  She had made so many of these for her family members and each year I see a new one I want one even more!  I was shocked when she gave me one for Christmas this year.  Best. Friend. Ever.  I know how much time goes into these things and it made me so grateful to her for making one for me!  I can't wait to hang it up next year!  Both of my dearest friends gave me Christmas decorations for my home this year.  It makes my heart happy to know that I will have a piece of them up in my home at Christmas time each year!  

A close-up... all of the white squares have a scene from the nativity stitched on them.  Did I mention how talented my bestie is?  Yeah... she rocks.  I need to make a bumper sticker that says, "my best friend is cooler than yours!" 

my dad.

There is nothing like waking up in the morning and having your husband tell you, "Hey love, I have some sad news.  Your dad had a heart attack and is in the ICU."  Not something that you ever want to hear.

This is my dad's third heart attack.  With each one, I am reminded just how much I love and admire him. 

I am reminded how short life is. 

I am reminded of how grateful I am for my knowledge that families can be together forever. 

I am reminded how blessed I am to have been raised by such incredible people.

I am reminded how grateful I am that my children have such amazing grandparents who are truly present in their lives.

I am reminded how much I love my family, and how much I still need them even though I'm a 'grown-up'.

My dad is the most hard-working, loyal, loving person that I know.  I had the opportunity of working with him at the BYU Student Health Center for several years when we were first married and those are some of my favorite times.  Going to work and seeing your dad... it's the best. 

He can fix anything.  Whenever something is broken at our house, Grace will say "Grampa should fly here and come and fix it for us."

He was there when my first two children were born.  He was the nurse that took them from the doctors arms and checked them over to make sure they were healthy and strong.  With the other three births, something was always missing... my dad.  I cried each time that reality hit me as I was gearing up for delivery.  There is something about knowing that my baby will be in the hands of their grandpa that is so comforting.

I love my dad so much.  I'm so grateful that he is doing well.  The news of his heart attack made me hug my children a little tighter.  Hold my husbands hand a little more.  It made me more homesick than I've been in a long, long time. 

I'm so grateful for these tender mercies from my Heavenly Father that keep me grounded in my testimony of the plan of salvation.

dancing queens.

We've had a lot of dance parties lately....

I love my girls so much... messy hair, ill fitting dresses and all.  I think Jayne would wear pj's every day if I let her.  Some days I do.

slideshow.

My awesome sister-in-law, Jessica, makes this amazing family slideshow every year in time for New Years.  My kids LOVE it.  They have already watched this years at least twenty times.  Probably more.  She has each family send her 100 pictures from their year and she sets them to music.  My kids can't get enough of the music this year.  They have danced to the music every night after dinner this week. 

They've also started asking to dance to music before school each morning.  It adds lots of stress and chaos to our already stressful and chaotic routine.... but usually we manage to get at least one good dance party in.  It just depends on my mood.  Some mornings are better than others.

drama.

Sometimes I think that Grace is bipolar.  She is so happy and cheerful... and then we ask her to do something simple (like get her pajamas on) and she flips out in a screaming, yelling, throwing things, slamming doors rampage.  It's insane.  And it's getting really old.  The other night we were having family scriptures and somebody said something she didn't like and she stormed off to her bedroom.  After slamming the door she scurried over and wrote this lovely note... opened the door and threw it down the stairs.

Jeremy opened it, read it and burst into laughter.  I read it and did the same.  I don't know where she has heard this (my guess is Phineas and Ferb, a favorite in our house).  We all had a good laugh, which cheered her up for about ten minutes. 

Any advice for us on how to deal with an over-the-top-dramatic-six-year-old?  

oh the pain.

I was cleaning the boys room the other day and found this in their closet....

Luckily none of the babies were harmed.  A few of them are still missing though..... so that may not be true.

A friend of mine told me that Barbies are guaranteed for life.  If you write them and tell them what happened, they will send you a box to return them in, and then they will send you replacements for free!  I'm still waiting to hear back from them... I'll let you know if it's a true story.

dancing.

Gracie suckered Graham into playing Cinderella and Prince Charming with her on Sunday....

I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it....

They looked so darling dancing around in the kitchen! 

family.

My kids love to play 'family' (we called it 'house' in my day).  This past weekend they spent literally hours playing together.  It was so fun to watch them having fun with each other.

In this picture Graham and Grace are on a rocket ship.  Lincoln is the 'conductor'.  It totally captures their little personalities.  I love it.

attached.

This little guy officially has attachment issues.  He is attached to me physically when I am cooking.  It is adorable.  He's so close to walking.  I don't know if I should work more with him to get him walking... or let him take it at his own pace.  I love the 'toddling' stage when they are just learning to walk.  It's my favorite. 

thank you.

Thank you, Dr. King.  Without you, my extended family wouldn't look like this....

 And I would not have pictures of my children that looked like this....

 ... and this....

Gracie's teacher is an older African American woman... and Grace is the only Caucasian child in her class (same with our boys).  The other night she was telling us how her teacher went to a 'negro school' and one time she drank out of the 'white drinking fountain' and she was so happy that she didn't get into trouble!  My how the world has changed since that time!

I am so grateful that Dr. King dreamed big.  Because of that dream, my family and my children have been blessed forever. 

shopping.

Grace is my child that I have a difficult time connecting with.  We are great friends, don't get me wrong... we have just had a hard time getting to that point.  I have realized lately that she has been craving one-on-one time with me.  We took a night when nothing was going on and decided to go spend some time shopping together.  This girl loves to shop!  We went to Marshall's where they have lots of frilly dresses and I let her try on about 8 of them.  She was SO excited that she actually got to try them on!  I let her choose on of the dresses to take home.  She picked this sparkly beauty.... ($15! on clearance!)

She spent Sunday morning before church twirling.....

...and twirling.....

.... until she fell down on the ground she was so dizzy!

She even helped me find something to wear on Sunday.  She was so cute picking out what looked good and what was crazy (faux fur vests just aren't her thing...)  I'm glad I found a way to bond with her.  I'm happy to spend $15 now and then if it means that I get to spend quality time with my sweet Gracie girl.

my sweet young women.

I serve with the youth in our ward.  In my opinion, it is one of the most demanding callings and by far one of the most rewarding callings in the church.  I love these girls like they are my own daughters.  They are in my thoughts and my prayers every single day.  It's kind of creepy how much I love them.  (Creepy in a good way.)

Today we held our Young Women in Excellence program.  We did something a little different and had it during Sacrament Meeting.  Each of the girls, along with the leaders, gave a talk. They spoke on personal progress, their scripture heroes and what they love about the Young Women's program.   As each of the girls spoke, I was in awe.  They are so filled with the spirit, so beautiful inside and out, and so inspiring.  They were all very nervous... some more than others, but they did amazing!  I am so proud of them. 

Did you know that the church has an incredible resource for the youth of our church?  They have this new website that is fantastic.  It is full of free music, videos, messages from church leaders, a place for questions/answers... it is so cool.  I wish they would have had something like it when I was in young womens.  I have used the videos in my lessons many times.  It is a wonderful way to bring the spirit into the room.  I also found out just recently that there is a new For the Strength of the Youth booklet.  I can't wait to get my own copy.

There has been rumors that our YW Presidency was going to be reorganized sometime after the new year.  I was sick to my stomach when I heard the news.  A big chunk of my heart belongs to the youth in our ward and I wanted nothing more than to stay in my calling.  I've only been in this calling for six months which is way too short.  I prayed my guts out to the Lord asking Him to please let me stay.  At times I feel like I need my girls so much more than they need me.  Well, He heard me...

Today in Sacrament meeting I was sustained as the new Young Women's President in our ward.  Oh. My.  I felt the spirit so strong as the members of our ward rose their hands to sustain me in my new calling.  I felt my Saviors arms around me as if He were saying, "I know you can do it.  Take a deep breath... here we go!" 

And that's how it will be.... "Here we go."  I know that He will be there with me every step of the way.  And for that... I am so grateful.

miss jayne.

About once or twice a week, Jayne will fall asleep in the car when we go to pick up the kids from school.  When this happens, she is awake well past her bedtime.  She hasn't been taking a regular nap for at least a year.  On those days, I get extra Jaynie time at the end of the day. 

Usually she sneaks out of her bed, quiet as a mouse and creeps down the stairs.  Before I know it... there is a little head peeking around the corner.  Quite often she scares the living daylights out of me because she's so quiet and then all of a sudden she's right there!  The other night was one of those nights.  Only she wasn't the one that scared me... Mickey was!  She peeked his head around the corner instead of her own! 

We usually watch some show together for about 15 minutes and then she goes right back to bed without a fuss.  On this night, we watched The Bachelor with all of her Mickey Mouse friends.  Jayne saw the girl on the date with the Bachelor and she said, "Mommy, she is wearing teeny tiny shorts!  I think they would fit me better!"  Smart girl.  We had a little talk about modesty after that.  I love my Jaynie girl!

sixth floor.

Guess what this is......

Oh, you know.... the future home of Wilde Endodontics.  July can't get here soon enough!

lincoln man.

This boy is so awesome.  He is getting so good at asking me, "Mommy... is there anything that I can do for you?" 

Our other kids are so lucky to have such a great older brother. 

fhe with little ones.

Family Home Evening is really hard with little ones.  We try really hard to always have it no matter what.  Some weeks are better than others.  Our typical FHE consists of singing lots of primary songs, having family prayer, listening to Daddy tell a story with a picture from the Gospel Art Kit, and ending with a treat (our favorite is ice cream or donuts).  I have a new goal to make it more interesting and fun for the kids.  This weeks lesson was such a success I had to share.

We did the classic object lesson where you put the oatmeal (or rice, or beans, or cereal... whatever) into the jar first, representing all of the things that we need to do eat day.  I poured a little in at a time and had the kids say things that they love to do each day.  Then we added the things that we need to do in order to be truly happy in life... church, family home evening, prayer and scripture study.  (I stuck them on some of Peter's toy blocks).  When we put the oatmeal in first... we couldn't put the lid on.  But when we put the important stuff first, we could put the lid on. 

The kids were enthralled.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Graham especially could not believe that it actually worked!  We went through each important thing and talked about how we are doing as a family.  Pretty good on FHE and church... but we need to work on prayers and scripture study.  Each child chose one thing that they were going to be the 'special reminder person' for. 

Lincoln = scripture study

Grace = family home evening

Graham = family prayers

Jayne = church

They love feeling like they are 'in charge' of something.  While the lesson only lasted about 7 minutes... I declare it a huge success!

P.S.  I'm going to try really hard to post our Family Home Evenings each week.  Maybe there is someone out there reading that can benefit from it.

graduation.

Guess who is a Sunbeam now?

This is the first time maybe ever that we haven't had a child in nursery (I can't do the math right now... it makes my head hurt.)  She is so excited to be in primary with the big kids!

a new year.

While pondering upon what my personal goals for the new year would be... I kept coming back to one word.... 

I decided that this will be my "theme" for the year.  I need to simplify.  Not sweat the small stuff.  Get back to basics.  I do best when I make simple goals.  So this word is perfect. 

I need to simplify my spiritual life. 

Instead of setting the goal to 'read a chapter in the scriptures each day'... I am going to set the goal to be in the scriptures each day.  I may read a verse, I may read a chapter.  I just want to be in the scriptures.

Instead of setting the goal to 'pray morning and night'... I am going to set the goal to build my relationship with my Heavenly Father through prayer.   I want to really know Him and pray to Him all throughout my day.

I was recently extended a new calling (I haven't been sustained yet or I would tell you what it is).  The advice given to me when I received the call was to "simplify and try not to get too overwhelmed.".  I plan to take this to heart.

I need to simplify my physical life.

Instead of setting the goal to 'go to the gym five times a week'... I am going to set the goal to just go to the gym.  If I make it five times... that's awesome.  If I only make it twice... that's great!  I just need to get there.

Instead of setting the goal to 'eat healthier'... I'm going to set the goal to drink more water and eat more vegetables.  I can't follow a diet.  It just makes me want everything chocolate. 

I need to simplify my home life.

I want to be present in my kids lives.  Who cares if their rooms get messy?!  Who cares if we stay in our pajamas all day?!  The important thing is that they feel loved, appreciated and adored by their mother.

I want to be madly in love with my husband.  We are busy people, leading busy lives and I have to make time for him.  Date nights and regular trips to the temple will help me simplify my marriage.

Lastly... it was recently brought to my attention that my blog is one of those that makes women feel bad about themselves.  I hate this.  It makes my stomach churn.  I blog to journal our families life.  I hope to blog a little more about the hard times and the stressful moments so that everyone will know that I'm human and will hopefully feel a little better about themselves when they read about our "blissful, happy life".  ;)

The end.