Wilcox Family News

Chase

2011-09-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

From September 4, 2011

Reasons to be excited for Chase this year:

-He is growing and finally catching up to some of those early sprouters

-Chase should be well on his way to his Eagle scout by the end of the year

-He gets to play soccer with his really great friend Hunter

-He has a really good chance of making the varsity track team this year

-Chase continues to be reliable and super responsible and will hopefully find his way into to some leadership positions at school

-He will have another excellent learning year at school though the PAGE program

Things I worry about just because I'm his mom:

-I am worried about weathering the "teenage" years and hope he never thinks that his parents don't know anything

-I worry that Chase is still struggling with finding friends in our new ward

-Chase needs to find a love for showers and washing his face now that he is a young man

-that chase feels unhappy at home because he is board and feels like he doesn't have anyone to do stuff with

-Chase needs to learn to always be kind and learn to think outside of himself

Emily

2011-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

From September 4, 2011

I'm excited for Emily because:

-she is top dog at her school this year and will enjoy all the perks of being a 6th grader

-she should continue to gain confidence academically

-she is growing into a really beautiful young woman

-Emily not only got the teacher that "she" wanted, but Mrs. Olsen just had a baby and I will be doing portraits for her. I promised Emily she could be my assistant during the session

-I know she is going to love the ancient civilization project this year

Things I worry about because I'm her mom:

-Emily is in between phases in life this year. She feels like she is in the middle of being a young lady and a child. I hope she will find some peace as she goes through this rough transition

-Emily has tried so hard to find a good friend. I am hoping with all my heart that this is her year

-I wish that Emily would find a sport that she loves, we are going to try volleyball this year

-I want to see her continue to become more responsible

-Emily especially needs people in her life to support her this year to boost her self confidence and self worth

Kate

2011-09-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

From September 4, 2011

I am so excited for Kate because:

-She grew academically so much last year that I expect her to continue to learn by leaps and bounds

-She is very bright and doesn't struggle with any particular subject

-She got the teacher that "she" requested

-Kate will get to participate in an after school art program this year that is awesome!

-Hopefully before too long she will finally be ready to start reading "Magic Tree House" books

Things I worry about for her because I'm her Mom:

-Kate always has a tough time at the beginning of the year getting back into the routine

-I hope she will learn to let go of her perfectionism just a bit to let herself enjoy her art a bit more

-I yearn for Kate to find a really good friend this year

-I hope that as Kate grows she will learn to become more assertive at school and gain some leadership qualities

Our Royal Family

2011-09-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Years ago I saw this tradition feature in Family Fun Magazine and we have faithfully made it our own now several years strong. Each school aged kid gets a whole day to reign supreme before school begins. We draw to see who gets what day and then the kids have to site and create their lists. This year each child had a budget of $100 so they had to be super thoughtful with their selections. The kids get to choose meals, activities,

games and so on. They are also the decision maker for the day. If another sibling wants to go play at a friends house they have to get permission from the monarch! We have lots of fun. I especially enjoy watching their anticipation as school draws near because they know their special days are just around the corner.

Queen Emily:

From September 4, 2011

-Eggo waffles

-Get nails painted

-Go to the Zoo

-Play the game "Life"

-Taco salad

-Rent a movie and have family movie night

Queen Kate:

From September 4, 2011

-Dad's hot cereal

-Get Nails Painted

-Shopping with Mom

-Give Zeke a bath

-Get squishy animals from Dad's office

-Eggs, Bacon, Toast and Orange Julius

-Buy some of Chase's fancy Scout popcorn and have a family movie night

King Chase:

-Waffles

-See "Smurfs" at the theater

-Get squishy animals from Dad's office

-Out to dinner at Red Robin

-Laser tag game with friends at the park

This Is What I Love Waking Up To In The Morning

2011-08-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

From Blogger Pictures

Click on the picture and turn up your volume!

Oh Darling Don't You Ever Grow Up

2011-08-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

Emily just came to me and wanted me to listen to a song. I am glad I didn't give her a hard time and willing shared myself with her for a moment. She played a Taylor Swift song for me and we both sat on my bed a little teary eyed. It is funny how she and I have had the same thing on our mind lately.

I just booked a session with a children's photographer in my area. She is wonderful. For the last few months I have felt like my kids are getting away from me.

Especially Chase and Emily. One a teenager and the other on the cusp. They are becoming little adults, faced with difficult challenges and having to make some hard choices. Constantly I wonder if Dave and I have done enough. Have we loved them enough, taught them enough, propelled them in the right directions. As they both enter into this most challenging phase of life I constantly find myself wishing that they hadn't grown up so fast. I remember when Chase learned to walk and how wonderful it felt to have a plush tender hand holding so tightly to mine. Now he hardly needs me at all. I cried when he started kindergarten and this is so much harder. Then I was giving him up for a few hours each day. Now I have turned him over to himself and the world around him. It is scary.

From Blogger Pictures

With his cousin Andrew this summer

Emily and I just had a long conversation a few weeks ago. She is struggling with the feeling of being caught in the middle of childhood and young womanhood. On the one hand she still loves to play pretend and on the other feels that keeps her from fitting in with her peers. As I listened to her I wonder if those other mothers intentionally challenged their daughters to grow up faster. I remember doing that with Emily as a baby. I wanted her to learn to sit and walk as fast as possible. I corrected every beautiful babytized word. I learned my lesson after the first two. What was the hurry? I was squandering one beautiful phase to push on faster towards the next. With Kate and Sara I knew better. Now instead of correcting those little baby words I write every single one down. And when Sara started walking around 13 months I was so glad to have held that much longer. I feel for Emily. I want her to stay a carefree child as long as possible. I have put in huge efforts to shelter her as long as possible from the grown up girl world. The world of fashion, boys and drama. But it is coming right around the corner. I hope she will remember her childhood roots and remember how to laugh and dance around my living room floor!

From Blogger Pictures

So the photo session was born. I was returning a scarf to local photographer, Tami Gookstetter when she invited me in to see her studio. All around me where beautiful canvases of colorful innocent childhood. I looked through an album and nearly started crying, instead getting goose pimples up and down my arms. This was exactly what I wanted. One last run through wild grass, one more time hanging from a tree, a final twirl and game of ring around the rosies. I wanted her to capture my children's childhood in a book, full of color and life, a happy memory to always look back on. In that book and my heart my children will never grow up.

Emily and I just shared a beautiful moment about childhood and growing up and it made my heart so full I had to immediately come down to write it all down. I hope she always feels like my little girl. Here is the song.

Lyrics to Never Grow Up :

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
and it's so quiet in the world tonight.
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause your dreaming
so I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light.
To you every thing's funny, you've got nothing to regret.
I'd give all I have honey if you could stay like that.

You're in the car on the way to the movies
and you're mortified your mom in dropping you off.
At 14 there's just so much you can't do
and you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots.
But don't make her drop you off around the block
remember that she's getting older too.
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your PJ's
getting ready for school.

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room.
Memorize what sounded like when your Dad got home.
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
and all your little brother's favorite songs.
I just realized everything I have is gonna someday be gone.

So here I am in my new apartment,
in a big city, they just dropped me off.
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on.

Oh I don't want to grow up, wish I'd never grown up
I could still be little.
Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'll never grown up
it could still be simple.
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
just stay this little.
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
it could stay this simple.
Won't let nobody hurt you,
won't let no one break your heart.
And even though you want to, please try never to grow up.
Oh don't you ever grow up,
Oh never grow up,
just never grow up.

-Taylor Swift

Deer

2011-07-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share my favorite pictures from our visit to Yosemite. We saw this mommy deer and her THREE babies on our way out of the park!

John Bytheway and Paint

2011-07-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks have been SO busy. We had our first renters move out the Friday before we left for family vacation to California. Now that we are back it has been lots of work!! I have driven to Dupont almost every day these past two weeks with the kids to work on our rental house.

Note

to others:

NEVER LET YOUR RENTERS PAINT WITHOUT MAJOR RULES IN PLACE

I have to say it has been a major lesson learned. When our renters asked to paint I thought. "why not?" They were excellent renters and I trusted them. I also when from years of renting myself that yearning to paint and make a house your own was a pretty serious need. So I s

aid yes, and only asked her to pick neutral colo

rs that would compliment the house.

BOY oh boy did we have a difference of opinion. She painted charcoal gray, navy blue and sunflower orange. All of her paint choices required that I [rime before I paint. So I have been painting now for forever it seems and NEVER want to lift another brush or roller in my life!!!

New rules:

NO PAINTING UNLESS THE COLORS ARE APPROVED AND A PROFESSIONAL PAINTER IS HIGHERED

On the brighter side the kids have all really enjoyed being back in Dupont to hang out with their friends. I love these kids, some like they were my own children. My kids have been so blessed by the friendships they have with these amazing youth. So it was good to be back and let them run trough the forest trails, park hop and just be kids again.

Another great blessing from all of this was that since we were traveling so much in the car and usually hit traffic at least one of the directions back and forth we got tired of the radio. Emily and Chase suggested listening to John Bytheway, a motivational / spiritual speaker for our church. We listened to several CDs and even listened to one of them twice! We really enjoyed being taught everyday. And then on occasion we were able to enjoy some excellent conversations.

So I suppose I have to swallow hard and thank the renters for leaving me such a massive paint job so that we could ha

ve such a wonderful time strengthening our testimonies and and friendships these last two weeks.

When life hands you lemons...

Shazam Just Saved My Soul

2011-06-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here I am sitting at the computer editing a newborn shoot from this week and I can't stop thinking about the evens and circumstances of this past week concerning my Grandpa. It is that feeling where your heart is so full you know you have to let it out or it will explode. And I can't focus on the work I need to do. So now I have taken a break from photoshop in an effort to ease the pounding in my chest.

Several years ago something happened that broke my spirit. I want to be careful to say that I still had my testimony of the Church, but I lost any will that I had to strive to be the person I wanted to be. I was discouraged with my chances of attaining any type of "spiritual" success in this life. And in an incredibly apathetic move decided that it would be better to quit trying all together.

The cause of all this disdain with life was a feeling that the Lord had abandoned me when I felt I really, TRULY needed him. I was going through a really rough patch. I went to my Bishop and prayed for help and all there was were crickets. A few good friends noticed my struggle and tried to help me through. But I felt like a fillie who had just had her spirit broken. I felt like the Lord and my Bishop had totally left me all alone. I sat through a Sunday school lesson recently where the teacher was discussing why people fall off the path. She emphasized that sadly these people leave the church because of actions of other people. Not the actions of the Lord. I sat there in that class thinking I was the opposite of that. I felt like the Lord had let me down. It has been a wound in my heart for so many years now it hurts just to write about it.

A few months ago I sat in Sacrament meeting and had this overwhelming feeling that my Grandpa who I really loved with all my heart didn't have much time left on this earth. It was strange at the time. Though he was frequenting the hospital more than usual and had surely lost a great deal of health and spunk he was still hanging around being a wonderful influence in my life and the lives of my children. But just that thought that he would leave soon made me all teary. Dave noticed and asked what was wrong, I shook it off. The strange thing was that it had nothing to do with the talks being given. I came home from our meetings that day and decided we would step up our love and care of Grandpa. We stated sending more regular correspondence and I started calling him on the phone more frequently. Several Sundays later I had that same feeling. Now I look back and KNOW that Heavenly Father was preparing me for what would happen in the next few months. He was preparing my heart for the loss I was about to experience.

Last week I got a message from my cousin Missy telling me that Grandpa was yet again in the hospital. He had a stroke. That morning I told the kids that Grandpa had a serious health accident and that he was sick in the hospital. We all cried together. By that afternoon my sister Nicole had been to see Grandpa in the hospital and had sent a reassuring message that the stroke was small and Grandpa was doing really well and that aside from possibly loosing some of his mobility he would be fine. In spite of this good news I was overcome with a weighty feeling. I struggled with the discussion to travel to Utah to help my Aunt and Cousins care for him while he mended or to sit tight at home. Money was the biggest concern. Things are tight and especially this month. Our renters are preparing to leave and we don't have new ones. So with the thought of having a double mortgage to pay and a family reunion at the end of the month where Dave would be taking a week off of work and so therefor our paycheck would suffer considerably, it just didn't make finical since to make that trip. There was a battle raging between my mind and my heart. My heart was telling me this was more than it seemed and that I needed to be in Utah. My mind was saying it was a small stroke and that the expense of the trip made it unwise. All day I stayed in bed thinking how I could get to Utah.

Then I remembered I had money sitting in my account. I hadn't thought of it at first because it was my "business" money and I keep those funds separate. That money was slated to help me purchase some more product samples and then perhaps pay for portraits to display in doctor's offices. I had $400 from a session I had done literally three days earlier. I added up the cost of gas. It would cost me about $360 to travel to Utah if I drove, instead of the $570 it would have cost to fly. Knowing I had the money to cover the trip without asking Dave to add that financial burden to our family's funds settled the debate for me.

Plans were made and the next day I was on my way.

Once I arrived in Utah I had two beautiful days with my Grandpa. We talked about smuggling in his cat, sneaking in chocolate and of course some more serious issues. It was so good to see him perfectly aware and totally himself. My emails to family were full of hope and reassurances. Then Sunday Grandpa suffered a debilitating stroke that in the end took his life.

It was a horribly hard week with lots of pain and suffering for everyone at his side. I was overcome with grief not only for the person I was about loose but how the loss of this Great man would weigh on my children who were so totally in love with their Papo.

I felt alone too. Not that my Aunt and Uncle and cousins were totally there for me emotionally. But I really just wanted my husband to hold me in the evenings when I came home tired and bedraggled and totally drained emotionally.

Grandpa struggled for two days and then left this life and since then I can't help but add up all the tender mercies that the Lord blessed me with. I have thought for days now that I needed to write them all down before I forget them. So here goes.

-being silently prepared for the loss of Grandpa by impressions that he would be leaving us soon

-being inspired to send him a package and make a phone call the week before he became ill

-having the money in my account to cover the costs of my trip

-on the way to Utah scheduling another session to replenish the funds I had used on the trip

-feeling that Grandpa really needed a priesthood blessing and there was no one around to offer it at the time. As I lifted my head from that prayer a young man in a white shirt and tie was standing in the doorway to Grandpa's room. Turns out he was the hospital Chaplain. He offered a blessing for Grandpa and stayed with me for an hour. The minute I said that prayer the Lord had someone there waiting to answer it.

-the opportunity my kids had to all say good bye to Papo on the phone and for Grandpa's temporary gift of clear speech when listening to Kate to say the words, "My Sweet Kate"

-that Grandpa was able to leave this earth relatively quickly and without prolonged suffering

-that a good friend had recently moved to the Provo area and took me in and loved me

-that other friends responded to my families needs and cared for the ones I left behind in Washington

-having a wonderful sister in law to leave my two youngsters with. Never once did I worry about their care or needs. I knew they were in the best of hands.

-that Dave was inspired with a beautiful analogy to help the children cope with grandpa's loss. He compared Grandpa to a caterpillar that had made a cocoon and soon would emerge as a beautiful butterfly

-when Emily called me from the church during mutual night crying and feeling horribly alone I tried to comfort her. I then tried calling a friend's cell phone who I knew would be a mutual and the Bishop's office to ask someone to locate her and love her. I couldn't get a hold of anyone. I Tearfully said a prayer asking the Lord to help her. Later she recounted to me that she had gone outside to cry in the rain and then a beautiful rainbow came and she was comforted (that is our sign to remember Great Grandma).

-that Sara the night Papo died had a dream that he came to her and gave her a big hug, she relayed the dream to my sister in law before anyone had ever shared the news with them

-That my aunt Kathy was blessed with a soft heart and took the needs of my family to heart. She changed the funeral plans that Grandpa had prepared to allow for Dave and Chase to be Pal Bearers and I know it meant a great deal to especially Chase. And that she was generous in inviting us to take something home of Grandpa's

-that I had two days to visit with grandpa before the Lord started the process of bringing him home, that smaller stroke provided so many of Grandpa's loved ones an opportunity to have one last visit and hug. That first stroke was a tender mercy for sure.

I am sure that as things become more clear I will remember more and add to the list. I had all these little moments swimming around in my head and I really did feel like there were so many blessings to see me through this last week.

Then on my way home from Utah I had the girls in the car with me and we were traveling in silence feeling awfully bruised and broken. Dave called me on the phone from his car and told me to tune the radio to a certain station. I did. We laughed that only in Utah could there be a "Sunday Sounds" station. Then I started listening. The song that was playing was"Blessings" by Laura Story. I am a lyrics girls. While Dave listens more to the music and the interplay between instruments I listen to the words and poetry of the song. I was only into the song a few lines and tears were streaming down my face. Her song was for me. Listening to the words I realized the Lord had been there for me all along this last week. I don't know why it was necessary for me to feel so abandoned this last few years but this week he was there by my side and blessing me all along the way. And the final blessing was that I felt healed through my tears of the past week. It took a horrible loss for me to feel close to my savior again. A deep wound was somehow bandaged with another wound. I wish with all my heart that it hadn't taken the loss of my Grandpa to feel His love and to feel like trying again to become the person I want to be. But it is what it is and I am grateful.

This week I was made whole again minus a hole in my heart that Grandpa left.

Here are the words to the song:

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Track

2011-05-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

From December 5, 2011

The Kitchen Is Getting A Face Lift!

2011-04-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

I really feel like every young man should have a two year tour in the construction business before he is qualified to marry! Dave is just so dang handy and I love it.

The kitchen remodel has been on our list since we moved in. And with Dave's share of the tax return he decided it was time to get it done!! The wall is down. And honestly that would have been enough to make things better. But now the kitchen has new lighting, and is peacefully, though impatiently, waiting for it's new concrete (scary) counter tops and then a new back splash.

And with the exception of the concrete...Dave has done it all!!!

Easter 2011

2011-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

My Beautiful Children

Sara was so excited about the $10 egg she found from Grandma DeWitt she went to store the next week to buy some new Strawberry Shortcake toys!

Katie once again found the golden egg!

Emily was super excited to find this Easter shower scrub from Grandma Wilcox!

Chase, naturally had the biggest hual. He is so focused on finding it all!

Sunny California

2011-04-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

We just had the most wonderful weekend! I have been anxious to attend a workshop for newborn photography in Oceanside and this year the workshop just happened to coincide perfectly with the kids spring break. So with my share of the tax return I signed up for the workshop and bought the kids and I tickets to sunny California.

It is the perfect time of year to go. Come Spring time in Washington, despite all the pretty blooms you just aren't sure you can take another day of cold rain. And so we try to plan our escapes to salvage some sanity.

We were so excited to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles and COUSINS!!!

When I asked the kids what was the one thing they wanted to do the most, I expected them to say Disney Land (which we weren't going to do). I was so relieved when they all shouted, "THE BEACH!" Well the beach is free and all over the place so they made it easy on me.

We decided to go to the beach in Oceanside because it would make it easier for me to get to my workshop and for Liz's kids to join us. I am so grateful that Grandma and Grandpa allowed me to talk them into coming to!!!

It was beautiful weather. In the low 80 and beautiful sun. The water was a little numbing, but after about 20 minutes when you couldn't feel a thing thanks to the natural spinal tap the cold water provided it was great. I got in up to my belly button which is saying something. I usually avoid the water. Too cold and too many creepy crawlies lurking under there!

We played Frisbee, built sand castles, made "hot tubs" (Kate's word since she was a baby for cozy spots...in this case a pit in the sand filled with water, body boarded and less fun...searched frantically for a missing Kate. She turned up after I lost a few years off my life panicking as we searched for her.

It was wonderful. The best part of the day in my opinion though was going to Liz's house afterwards and soaking in her hot tub. I NEED A HOT TUB!!! (maybe next years tax return!!)

Knotts Berry Farm

2011-03-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I haven't taken our kids to an amusement park in years!!! I think the last time was when we were living in California in 2005. We went once to Disney Land when Kate was a baby. We have been to Great Wolf Lodge and Wild Waves up here in Washington but nothing major. Grandma mentioned that it might be fun to do that with the kids while we were visiting. I was VERY surprised. It is not Grandma Wilcox's thing to walk all over amusement parks. It hurts her feet which in the past few years have been through some major trauma.

We looked into Sea World and Knotts and decided because Knotts was so close it would be perfect. And we thought that with Uncle Mike's military discount we would be in almost free. Well the discount was a total bust. When I looked up the info on line there were not any dates on the page. Apparently they only offer the discount we were expecting once a year, some time in the fall. It was a total bummer and I felt like a complete looser.

Any how...after that rather unhappy beginning we headed into the park. We had Liz and Mike's kids with us and the cousins made it perfect. We let the big kids go off on their own which is why I don't have pictures of them. Except this one.

Poor Kate, I thought she would be surely tall enough to go on this ride. She wasn't and it was so sad. She is about an inch shorter than Claire and Warren. And so she had to be a really good sport as they went off to play with the big kids and she was stuck with the younger kids. I think though that since Kate is so cautious she was just fine with the rides, but missed the company of Claire and Warren!

After an hour the big kid crew came back so we could all have lunch. This is how Emily and Chase looked. I swear you would have thought they weren't having an of fun. They sat sulking totally exhausted. My poor rain children didn't know how to handle the scalding 80 degree day;-)

We drenched them and then they perked right up. Emily and Chase spent the rest of the day soaking wet. Occasionally wanking right through a fountain, shoes and all, to add to there wet protective layer.

My favorite part of the whole day was watching Sara. She is so expressive. Everyone should be expressive I think. It is so much more fun to watch some one out of their mind happy when they know how to show it. With Sara you always know. Sometimes it is no fun, like today as I'm writing this post and Sara isn't feeling well. I was counting down until nap time when I would be saved from the moaning crying beast that she becomes when she is sick. But on days like this one when she is happy, it makes you happy. She smiled all day long. It made my day!

It's All In The Name

2011-03-27T22:39:00.001-07:00

Sara is writing her own name. It melts my heart that it was Dave that started to teach her. I came home from volunteering in Kate's class one day and he and Sara had been playing school. She is pointing out the letters in her name everywhere she sees them. And just the other night she wrote her name all by herself:

-no copying

-no help with the crayon

-no guiding at all

ALL BY HERSELF!!!

We were dully excited for her of course. She is barely over 3 and is writing her name!!!

My Toothless Beauty

2011-03-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Kate has been losing teeth left and right. Her smile is so holey right now it makes me laugh to see her smile. She has been making major bucks from the tooth fairy. I am guessing our neighbors are tired of hearing my kids "page" the do gooder fairy. Kate was averaging a couple times a week recently and Sara, bless her heart, wants to loose a tooth so bad she calls the tooth fairy in for false alarms daily. Katie noticed one of her teeth starting to grown in yesterday and wanted me to take this picture to document her toothless smile.

Sara is a Sunbeam!

2011-03-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

This post is major delayed!!! I have had it sitting saved here in blogger for forever, waiting for a picture!

Sara is a Sunbeam! I was a little anxious about the first of January. Sara LOVES nursery! She has the most wonderful teachers. They are serious super stars in her little eyes. She will leave my lap the minute she sees them to go and sit with them. She counts down until Sundays when she gets to go to nursery and play with her friends. And Sacrament is just a means to an end. The minute the bread and water have been passed she is asking if it is time yet. So as the time for her to start Primary got closer and closer I stared to worry she was going to really resist leaving the nursery!

The first Sunday of the year came and went and there were no problems. Sara was beside herself with excitement. I had totally dropped the ball and in spite of that she was still excited to be a sunbeam. Usually we have a special FHE for our future sunbeams where we learn the song, make sun shaped jello jigglers, talk about being a big kid and sitting reverently and so on. I spaced it and we never had that special celebration lesson. But somehow on that first Sunday she was just as excited as I wanted her to be. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the row where her best friend Olaiah was sitting and then together we all walked off to go to primary. Those two cute girls were smiling ear to ear. I couldn't help but to be super happy for them. She has had a whole month now of primary and she loves it.

It warms my heart to hear her humming all the new primary songs she is learning. She knows all the tunes and is working to know all the right words. As we load up in the car to go home after church she is always excitedly rattling off all the things she has learned in her class. Her teacher, Sister Ward, is gentle and kind. Yesterday I watched Sara bashfully tiptoe up to her, hands bawled up in a first by her face. I knew that she nervously hoped that without asking her teacher, who's lap was empty at the time, would scoop her up without being asked. She did. In a quiet and loving way she scooped her up in her arms and Sara sat smiling for the rest of sharing time. Like I said..heart warming!

So Sara is a SUNBEAM! And she is so happy!

Inspiration

2011-03-16T14:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, well a lot of the time, a Mom needs a kick in the pants. Motherhood is definitely not as easy as I thought it was going to be. And I have come to discover I am not naturally talented in the area either. There are so many times when I think that my kids are too old to start changing things around for the better. That I screwed up and it is too late. A lot of days that turn into months I lose perspective and forget that My kids are young compared to the eternity that I have to be their mother. I have many friends that inspire me beyond measure. But two ladies in particular feed my soul. Lisa J. and Jamie C. are the mothers that I want to be. They both used to be neighbors. And as they have moved away and I have started spending every spare moment on my photography business I have stopped checking in on their blogs. Another super amazing friend Rachel P. reminded me last night what I was missing out on. So last night I payed both of these friends a cyber visit. And now with tears in my eyes I can tell you that they filled my soul! I wanted to share something with all of you from Lisa's blog. (hope she doesn't mind) If you want an extra jolt of motherhood caffeine, visit her here!

MARCH 1, 2011

Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining Good Relationships with Our Children

A month ago I was asked to present a class at our weekly Relief Society meeting about “Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining Good Relationships with our Children.” I was so excited… I’m pretty passionate about this topic so I really enjoyed studying, reading and preparing my thoughts… and now that it’s over I figured I’d post it here too.

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I was listening to a Mormon Channel conversation with Sister Julie B. Beck, general Relief Society President, and her daughters… when this quote really struck me. She said,

“I wanted to raise people who would be my friends when I was old. That means we had to do things when they were young that would build them into the kind of people I would enjoy when they were older. We had to teach them manners, and cleanliness, to be thinkers, to laugh, to enjoy life. That meant I had to be their parent when they were young so that I could be their friend when they were older.”

I love that. She goes on to say that PARENTING is hard and takes a lot of revelation and help from above… so of course the number 1 thing we can do in order to develop, nurture and maintain a good relationship with our children, is to seek the guidance of our Heavenly Father.

Gene R. Cook, in one of our very favorite books called, “Raising A Family Unto the Lord” says, “If you want to be successful, get the Lord involved.”

That said, I have divided my thoughts into four sections…

Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining a good Relationship with your Children – Part 1

Before we can ever put our daily choices and patterns into place, we need to know the big picture. Where are we headed? What is our long term vision for our family? Where do we see our family in 5, 10, 50 years?

For Chris and I, our first long term vision for our family is summed up in our family motto… Every morning and night after our family prayer, we put one hand in together and repeat our motto. (Sometimes Luke says “B-Y-U” instead and Chris grins while I roll my eyes. We’ve allowed a compromise though, now he gets to lead a BYU chant after our family motto is over.) Even little Matthew knows the drill and is excited to stick his hand in and mumble the words with a smile.

The kids know that this means we’re headed for the Celestial Kingdom together and we want everyone there. Hopefully, by saying it every day, we’re reminding ourselves of the big picture and that all of our other goals and plans need to, in some way, help us get there.

Secondly, our family timeline helps both Chris and I, and our children have a vision of our family life.

This fabulous idea came from my Dad. He had our family timeline on a big piece of poster board drawn in pencil and hidden behind the tall file cabinet in his office downstairs. Once a year we’d pull it out, wipe off the cobwebs, lay it out on the kitchen table and check it out. {Ours used to be hand-written on graph paper… but recently Chris and I sat down and made it digital… using iNumbers.}

Each child in the family has their own ‘line’ underneath the ‘year line’. Each child’s line starts on the year that they were born. On their line we’ve filled in all important milestones and when they will take place… a mark on their line for when they’ll start kindergarten, be baptized, receive the priesthood, go into beehives, Mia Maids, Laurels, Deacons, Teachers, Priests, start to date, go to University, go on a mission… All in pencil.
It’s our family PLAN. We want our children to know what the plan is… and that we EXPECT it to happen. We don’t say IF you decide to go on a mission, they see it actually on their line like it’s part of the plan. Once it has happened then it goes in pen. For ours, which is on the computer, it will change from yellow ink, to black.
Another neat thing about this timeline is seeing how the kids lines match up. How old will Matthew be when Ryan goes on his mission? How long will Katie, Emily and Megan all be in young women’s together? What grade will the kids be in when we get out of the army?
When we were deciding if we should move to Germany we pulled out our family timeline and looked at the next three years. Viewing our family life in the ‘big picture’ made us realize that three years wasn’t really that long. We also noticed what things would be taking place in the next three years… Ryan receiving the priesthood, Katie going in to Young Women’s, Emily and Megan being baptized.
Part of developing a good relationship with our children is creating that vision together.
My Dad still pulls out the family timeline to record events and uses it often for presentations. Thanks Mom and Dad for your great example… in everything.

Lastly, Chris and I fully plan on and expect that we will have great relationships with our children as they grow older… and we’re working towards that every day. I spend a lot of time helping my children envision our future relationship as well. When I’m doing the girls hair or driving in the car with one of them I’ll say, “Emily, I’m so excited for when you go to your first dance and then you’ll come home and sit on my bed and tell us all the details and who you think is cute…” I want her to envision telling us every detail. I want her to envision sitting with the both of us to talk about her fears or her problems or her joys. I want her to envision or EXPECT that having a great relationship and talking to your mom and dad is just what you do. …We talk about how exciting it is going to be to go to kindergarten and how good they will be in their class, about how proud we are that they will be choosing to get baptized, about our feelings and actions around dropping our kids off at college, about how they will look over at us in the temple when they get married – to see us crying, about the joy of visiting them and their children when they’re married… you name it, we talk about it, and I think it help our kids envision our relationship throughout their lives as well as build the necessary communication skills for a successful close relationship.

Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining a Good Relationship with our Children – Part 2

I am a communicator. I like to talk. I follow Chris around the house telling him about my day, and where I went, and who I talked to, and funny things the kids said. He sometimes teases me by wandering around the furniture just to see if I’ll still follow him, which I do without even thinking about it… so it will come as no surprise that I love love LOVE talking to my kids. I tell my kids when I’m feeling frustrated because of something, or when I’m sad because of something I heard on the news, or something funny that my brother said on the phone, or when I’m disappointed at myself. I spontaneously bear my testimony or squeeze in a mini lesson about some gospel principle any time I can. I take every opportunity to share my feelings and turn anything into a conversation. It’s amazing what powerful discussions can occur after watching episodes of Little House on the Prairie… Often time we have to pause to have lengthy discussions about friendship, or dating, racism or the word of wisdom. I just love it.

When my older kids were each ready to learn about sex… Chris and I took them out for a special date night and explained everything together. We want it to be completely natural for Ryan to ask me questions and for Katie to ask Chris questions. They also know that anything told to one of us will be shared with the other.

I plan on having lots of open and deep conversations with my teenagers but I’m sure those deep conversations will not ‘just happen’ if they have not happened all along the way… and if I have not opened up to them about my feelings, then how will I expect them to open up to me?

I have deep (of course not inappropriate) talks with my children when they are very young. I’m amazed at what my 3 and 5 year old understand. I talk to Megan about how to choose a man to marry, or that some children don’t have enough food, or about some of the gory details about giving birth. I explain to Luke that I’m feeling sad or frustrated and in turn he is starting to really communicate his own feelings… “Mom, I feel like I’m going to cry when you don’t say “YEAH!” after I go to the potty.” {Oh boy, that whole topic deserves it’s own post.}

Often the best time for some one on one communication is at bedtime. I’ve enjoyed asking 5 questions to my little ones from time to time as I tuck them in. Usually I have to either run and tell Chris or jot down their answers because they are just so cute.

Luke’s from yesterday…

What is taller… a giraffe or an elephant? a giraffe
What is faster… a car or a bike? a car
Who does Mommy love the most? a giraffe
No, in the family, who does Mommy love the most in our family? Dad!
Then who does Mommy love? an elephant --- it took a while and quite a few fabulous ‘Lukey faces’ to come up with all the kids names too, in order of course.

(Asking questions is totally from my Dad too. He’s still a ‘question asker’ and my kids just love it.)

These days, when I haven’t completely lost all patience by bedtime the kids get a ‘tuckle and a talk’… which is a tuck and a tickle combined, and then some questions if I’m in a good mood… which, believe me, is not every night.

I try to tell my children often that I LOVE being their mother, that I’m so lucky to have them as children, and that I’m SOOOOO in love with their Dad.

As my children have continued to grow, our talks are just getting better. Ryan sits in the front seat of the van on the way home from church and almost always makes comments about other people’s poor choices, or asks a question about when I was a teenager. Then it’s my job to KEEP TALKING and KEEP THEM TALKING. I use every opportunity I can to share my feelings, ask what they think, use personal experiences, talk about silly things I did as a teenager, listen, and most of all, bear my testimony. That doesn’t mean that every conversation is about spiritual things… it’s not. But our conversations usually celebrate good choices, teach, and most importantly, tell them that their thoughts and feelings are valued and that they are loved.

Many times when we get home, and walk into the kitchen for our traditional ‘before-dinner nachos’ the kids just stand there and say… “KEEP TALKING MOM!”. It’s like they hardly even care what I say next, they just want the feeling of the moment to continue.

In January for FHE we studied the Proclamation of the Family. I printed out the entire Proclamation for each member of the family but with enough spaces between the paragraphs that we could take notes, and draw pictures throughout. I was amazed at what kinds of questions were asked and talked about when we read and explained each sentence of that amazing proclamation. We used 3 FHE’s in a row sitting around the table, just talking. On one of the nights we paused and put the younger three to bed so that we could continue to talk with the older ones, and ended up going to bed way too late because no one wanted to stop talking.

A couple days after one of our Proclamation nights my sister in law called to tell us of someone she knew who had five kids, pregnant with her sixth, who accidentally drove over her toddler, killing her. After talking with her for a while, I went downstairs and immediately called my kids to the kitchen where I poured out my heart. I told them of the experience, and of that poor family and what they must be feeling. We talked about what the brothers and sisters must be feeling. I was emotional and so were Ryan and Katie. When I stopped talking and turned to make dinner Ryan rushed upstairs. I sensed that he went to his room to pray for that family... which he did. Around the dinner table a few minutes later he was still quite emotional as he explained that he couldn’t stop thinking about that happening to his brother, Luke. Over dinner, we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and the blessing it is to know Heavenly Father, and the idea that we need to be strong in our testimonies so that when hard times come we will be able to rely on the Lord instead of turn away from Him… all things that we had talked about just days before in our discussions on the proclamation. I share this because it’s an example of the kind of positive communication that I want in my home all the time. I could have chose to not bring it up, it’s too sad, they are too young, we don’t even know the family. But instead, we felt a true emotional and spiritual connection to each other. We developed a trust. We shared OUR feelings and provided an environment where they would want to share theirs. We grew closer… and that’s what it’s all about.

“Children never outgrow a need for quality conversation with parents and other adults. Learning how to communicate on this level will serve them well in their own future relationships, including marriage. It will teach them how to build friendships and relate to work associates. It will show them how to process their own thoughts and to communicate in a positive, caring manner that respects the ides of others.

Because your children will learn more from talking with you than you will probably ever realize, it is crucial that you spend time in healthy conversation with them, no matter what their age. If you limit your talking with them to correction, your children may never learn the value of positive, focused attention. Negative attention alone can not meet their need for love.
Sadly few young people today understand how to handle their feelings, especially anger. This lack is a primary reason for drug use, inappropriate sexual activity, and antiauthority attitudes and behavior. Many years of warm and close bedtime talks, which include relaxed sharing of feelings, can help prevent most of life’s deepest problems.
Don’t be a victim of the urgent. In the long run, much of what seems so pressing right now won’t even matter. What you do with your children will matter forever.”
Gary Chapman, Author of ‘5 Love Languages’.

Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining a good Relationship with Your Children – Part 3

Earlier in my marriage I read the book called ‘The Five Love Languages’ written by Gary Chapman. I really enjoyed the concept that people give and receive love in different way and that finding out what your spouses’ love languages are would enable you to ‘speak love’ to each other more clearly. I immediately applied the concepts to my kids trying to determine what their individual love languages were.

Now I own and have read his book “The five Love Languages of Children”. Also fabulous... and so I’m just going to summarize each of his ideas and pass them along…

First of all, CHILDREN NEED ALL FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES TO FEEL LOVED. I found this rather interesting. Even if you see your child having one or two main love languages, they still need ALL FIVE.

This is one I can see clearly in my Emily. She wants to be hugged, and tickled. She wants to sit close to Dad and drape her arm around him and snuggle into him. She wants to lie on my lap and have me tickle her back. She is somewhat like a cat… and I don’t particularly like cats… so I have to remember that this is how she feels loved.

“Our children need plenty of touches during their first few years. As a baby grows and becomes more active, the need for touch does not lessen. Hugs and kisses, wrestling on the floor, riding piggy-back, and other playful loving touches are vital to the child’s emotional development. Children need many meaningful touches every day and parents should make every effort to provide these expressions of love.”

Practical Ideas:

Hug and kiss your child every day when they leave and return from school.
Put your hand on their shoulder or back as you approach them or tell them something.
Stroke your child’s hair or rub their back when they’ve had a difficult day or are upset.
Shortly after disciplining them, take a moment to give them a hug and tell them that you still love and cherish them.
Snuggle closely together on the couch when watching a movie.
With younger children, read stories together with your child on your lap.
Occasionally yell out for a group hug for your entire family.
Tuck them in at night – (I vividly remember feeling loved by my mother when she sat by my bed to talk as I went to bed… and I know my kids feel that too, but I need to do better.)

This one is my Katie. She loves to hear that I’m proud of her or that I think she looks beautiful or that I think she made a smart decision. Who doesn’t?

“In communicating love, words are powerful. Words of affection an endearment, words of praise and encouragement, words that give positive guidance all say, “I care about you”. Such words nurture the child’s inner sense of worth and security. Even though such words are quickly said, they are not soon forgotten. A child reaps the benefits of affirming words for a lifetime. Conversely, cutting words, spoken out of short-lived frustration, can hurt a child’s self-esteem and cast doubts about his abilities. Children think we deeply believe what we say.”

Practical Ideas:

Write love notes to each child several times a year.
Put a post-it note in their lunchbox with some encouraging words.
Take a picture your child has created and frame it with a note of why it means so much.
Make a poster of praise to put on their bedroom door.
When a child makes a mistake trying to do something helpful, first use words that recognize that you knew of their good intentions.
Leave a note on a cereal box, bathroom mirror or other place you know your child will look.
Make a habit of mentioning something specific you’ve observed that highlights your child’s accomplishments.
Make mention of each child and their accomplishments during Family prayer.

This is one of Ryan’s main ones. He’s always wanting to play games with us, watch movies, and stay up and talk to us. He craves attention from the both of us.

“The most important factor in quality time is not the event itself but that you are doing something together, being together. Quality time does not require that you go somewhere special. You can provide focused attention almost anywhere, and your most nurturing quality times will often be at home, when you are alone with a child. Finding time to be alone with each child is not easy, and yet it is essential. In a society where people are increasingly spectators rather than participants, focused attention from parents is all the more critical. It takes real effort to carve out this kind of time in your schedule, and yet making the effort is rather like an investment in the future.”

“Quality time should include pleasant, loving eye contact. Looking in your child’s eyes with care is a powerful way to convey love from your heart to the heart of your child. Studies have shown that most parents use eye contact in primarily negative ways, either while reprimanding a child or giving very explicit instructions. Most of your eye contact must be pleasant and loving.”

Practical Ideas:

Include your child in your daily activities such as laundry, grocery shopping, or washing dishes.
Stop what you are doing to make eye contact with your child as they tell you something important.
Cook something together for a snack.
When a younger child is showing you something, crouch down to their eye level or gather them into your arms.
Seek opportunities to spend time together as a family.
Share more meals together as a family.
Open up a photo album that has pictures of your child’s earlier life. Sit together and talk about the fun and emotion of the events in the pictures.
Ask very specific questions about your child’s day that do not have a yes or no answer.

“The grace of giving has little to do with the size and cost of the gift. It has everything to do with love. Today we parents don’t always think of necessities as gifts but as items we must supply for our children. And yet, we often give these items with loving hearts for the sincere benefit of our children. Let’s celebrate such gifts. Unwrapping a present provides an emotional thrill for a child, and you can demonstrate that every gift, whether a necessity or a luxury, is an expression of your love.”

As I order or buy things my children ‘need’, such as new clothing, I usually save them in a basket above my closet. For Valentine’s day my children all received a new item of clothing wrapped in red paper… all from the purchases I had done in the last couple of months and saved waiting for a special event. I could of just given it to them earlier but the excitement of seeing the presents wrapped made everything more exciting. It’s not the PRESENT that’s important; it’s how things are PRESENTED. To go along with our Valentine’s gifts we had a Valentine’s Day Dinner with all red food. Then I hung “love note” hearts down from the ceiling to hover over the table. When Luke came in to the dining room and saw what I was doing he exclaimed, “Oh, Mom, I love you!” He could just tell I was doing something special… and could really feel it as an expression of my love, even as a 3 year old.

Practical Ideas:

Give personally made coupons for your child, good for some of their favorites, such as an extra half hour of time with you before bedtime, or a small treat next time you are shopping together.
make after school snacks memorable by serving them on a special plate in a funny place.
Create a scavenger hunt for a gift that includes a map and clues along the way to the main surprise.
Hide a small gift in your child’s lunchbox.
Give hints leading toward a special upcoming gift. A countdown of notes help create huge anticipation and a tremendous amount of love for those who especially enjoy receiving gifts.
Keep a chart and some fun stickers to keep a record of accomplishments. Reward your child with a gift after a set number of stickers are earned.

This is one of my main love languages. If anyone volunteers to help with laundry or dinner then I really feel loved… as this is what occupies most of my time.

As a love language for children, it’s a little different…

“Loving service is an internally motivated desire to give one’s energy to others. Loving service is a gift, not a necessity, and is done freely, not under coercion. When parents serve their children with a spirit of resentment and bitterness, a child’s physical needs may be met, but his emotional development will be greatly hampered. Because service is so daily, even the best parents need to stop for an attitude check now and then, to be sure that their acts of service are communicating love.” I thought that was note-worthy. I need an attitude check every now and again… and I also need to verbalize that I do what I do because I love them.

Acts of service can become a model for your child’s service and responsibility. You may wonder how your children will develop their own independence and competence if you serve them. But as you express your love by acts of service to your children, doing things they may not yet be able to do for themselves, you are setting a model. This will help them escape their self-centered focus and help others. That’s our ultimate goal as parents. Thus, acts of service has an intermediate step. We serve our children, but as they are ready, we teach them how to serve themselves and then others.”

Practical Ideas:

Help your child practice for their sports team
Sit down and help your child as they work on homework.
Make a favorite snack when your child is having a difficult day.
Instead of just telling your younger children to go to bed, pick them up and gently carry them and tuck them in their blankets.
Begin teaching your child the importance of serving others by helping them serve someone else in the family.

It has been interesting to explain the five love languages to our children and ask them what they think they are. My older children really understand it quite well. Additionally, our children need to know what OUR love languages are. By communicating to our children what makes US feel loved they will be more aware of what they need to do to show us love. Chris jokes that since we have 6 kids and each need 5 different love languages… plus each other… that’s 35 love languages to keep track of each day…that’s a lot of love! Sometimes I am aware of my children’s ‘languages’ and other times I’m too impatient to give them what they really need or too frantic to notice until the day is over and I’m reflecting about missed opportunities. But I love the concept and I’m trying to incorporate the ideas more and more.

Developing, Nurturing and Maintaining a good relationship with our Children – Part 4

It’s easier to have a positive relationship with positive people.

Luke DOES NOT like to be sad. If he’s frustrated about something, or has just been scolded, then he asks us to find his happy face. He’s done this for a year now and he came up with the whole thing on his own. For a year we have responded by looking around to see if we can find it, while he quickly wipes his eyes and surprises us with a huge smile and then giggles. It works like a charm. As he approached turning three I wondered if he would ever grow out of this. I’m sure his wife is going to just love having to find his happy face all the time. So lately I’ve started to say, “Luke, you need to find your own happy face… YOU find it.” to which he sobs back… “I don’t know how!” So, for now, we’re still finding it for him… but we do appreciate the fact that he LOVES to be happy and HATES to be sad.

I know that your attitude towards EVERYTHING in life determines so much of the outcome. We really try to teach our kids to have a good attitude. I’m constantly telling them that THEY are in charge of the way they react to anything. They’re in charge of being happy. I admire people who look at the glass half full… and try to teach my kids to do the same.

On our summer points charts the kids are given points for each job or responsibility and can spend points on rewards. 10 points for just accomplishing the job… OR 20 points for accomplishing the job with a happy attitude. The kids have learned fast that having a good attitude pays off.

When we decided to move to Germany we explained to the kids how life would be different. Different, not bad. We made two posters… one with “Things we’ll miss” and one with “Things we are excited for”. For the next month anytime anyone thought of anything for either chart we’d write it on there. It allowed the kids to celebrate their emotions. Once we were finished we had two positive charts… One of all the things that we had loved about Georgia and one of all the things that we were going to love about Germany. It helped us say goodbye with gratitude and hello with excitement.

Ideas for teaching a positive attitude:

Be a good example of a positive attitude.
Be constantly finding the good in the situation and verbalizing it to your children.
Have discussions about things you are grateful for and write them down.. and not just in November!
Every day at dinner talk about why you are so happy or so grateful. Ask the kids to do it too.
Pray for a good attitude.
Sometimes when my children say something negative, I have them then say five things positive. It could be about anything or anybody.

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Vision. Communication. Love. Attitude. and let me add two more words… PRACTICE and PRAYER.

I’ve enjoyed reading some great books and articles lately. It seemed everything I picked up had to do with this topic in one way or another and I couldn’t possibly fit all of the the wonderful material in. But my testimony is strengthened, I’ve learned a LOT, and I’m excited to be more FOCUSED on creating and maintaining great relationships with my family. I can think of nothing I want more. True happiness. How blessed we are to understand the importance of good family relationships… especially in a world that values the family less and less.

Wasn't that beyond wonderful! No go worth and be better mother's! THANKS LISA! (and Rachel for the heads up!)

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

First a disclaimer. This year was definitely not as cool as it usually is. That this years dance be a testament that EVERYTHING is funner with a theme. I had been anticipating this years dance theme for months, thinking about all the cool things they could choose from. Hawaiian luau, disco, country hoe down etc...Instead the committee chose a lame cover all your bases kind of them. Something like the Magic of Dads. Yuck. If you can't dress up it is not good enough. So we really missed that aspect of the dance this year.

The girls wanted to start working on their hair and make-up the minute they walked in the door from school. I wish I knew more about cool hair dos! I did my best to be creative. They loved putting on make up! They get to do it twice a year, Daddy Daughter dance and Halloween, so it is a pretty special treat. Sara was really interested this year. I told her that when she turned four it would be her turn to go too. Since then she continually tries to add a year to her age. Pretty funny! So here are my beautiful and very excited daughters ready to dance the night away with their Dad and friends!

We did our traditional little mini session in the portrait studio. I love having good lighting at my beck and call now. I was taking a few pictures of the girls when the door bell rang and they were off to answer the door for their date! Dad arrived with beautiful gifts. And then they were off for the night.

I really need to work on using my on camera flash. I had a really hard time getting pictures this year. I think the batteries were dying. I had replacements out in the car, but I had parked so far away and it was raining so I basically gave up. So these are the best pictures

of Dave dancing with Emily, Katie and their sister from another mother ;-) Kaitlyn.

Here is what the girls had to say about heir special night with Dad...

Emily...

Daddy daughter dances are fun because usually Dad is so busy. He is taking Chase to Scouts, going to soccer, working late, finishing a project in the house or taking a break...so he usually doesn't have time to play with me. Sometimes it makes me feel really jealous, so it is good that every year I get to go to the Daddy daughter dance because I only have to share him with one other person. I love the getting ready part because I get to where makeup and wear a special dress. I think it is fun to see Daddy getting ready too because usually he is getting ready to go out with Mom. It makes me happy to know he is getting ready to go out with me. It is such a special day. I look forward to it the whole day, even through school. Last year Dad started teaching me some cool dance moves. We do a dance called the "twist". We all hold hands and then we twist ourselves around without letting go until we are all facing outwards. Then we try to fix ourselves. I am also learning part of the fox trot with Dad. Dad is so super nice. What is really nice about Dad is that he is always really fun. He takes us on tractor rides (riding mower), makes us forts, talks to us like he our drill Sergeant and makes us work for our dinner. I hope next year there is more of a theme so I can dress up!

Kate...

I like going to the Daddy Daughter dance. It is so fun. I love that Dad brings us flowers. It makes me feel so good and special. He always give us lots of hugs and kisses. I think it is really sweet that Dad picks up our friend Kaitlyn and brings her for us. We had so much fun at the dance this year. There was a magician. He did a magic trick and made a real albino bunny. He really did. You should have been there! When we left we got tied two balloon together and let them go up on the air. We said that they will always be together and love each other. Then they got stuck in a tree. It was lots of fun. I really love my Dad. He is so special. He builds stuff for us and he loves us. I think next years dance is going to be really nice. It will be cute to see Sara at the dance next year. I think she is going to love it and smile a lot!

Sara Is Drawing!

2011-02-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sara has started drawing recognizable pictures! Everyone is so excited to have her reach this stage. She started the other day during Sacrament meeting. I smiled at the picture she brought Dave. It was of him with her on his shoulders. Super cute. She tore it. Then she drew a picture of me. It was a riot. I had a big thing sticking out of my head. I asked her what it was and she said, "It is your horn from when you were a pony." So I carefully labeled it and put it in my scripture bag to keep it safe so I could bring it home and save it. Well, somehow she found it and tore it up. So though this is not her VERY FIRST drawing it is the first I have salvaged from her silly tendency to shred and destroy. So her I am in Sara's eyes. I have a very round body (but then again so do all the people she draws), two arms, two legs, eyes, a mouth and very thin and limp hair. What more could a person hope for in their portrait?

It makes me wonder as I have seen now the first drawing of 4 children. They all started on their own without being taught. And somehow their first pictures are all so similar.

We have a wall in our playroom with empty picture frames on wallpaper that we let the kids draw in. Sara has been trying to sneak a picture on the wall for a year now. She has several scribble marks that made it up. But hasn't been allowed to draw with permission yet. Yesterday I let her draw her first "authorized" picture. She was so excited. I wish, thinking back, that I had taken a picture of her doing it. It was a big moment to celebrate her new ability. That only added fuel to the fire. Now I pictures all over the house, so far on paper, of her silly little people.

Not A Teacher

2011-02-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Chase has been working on a school project. He and his team had to teach a third grade class about how the Native American Indians of the Northwest build shelters and gathered food. He came up with a really great lesson plan. And then as an activity at the end had the kids make Tee pees with a pencil and flour tortilla. He was pretty excited when the day arrived to visit the school.

He came home that day looking totally worn out. I asked him how things went and he relayed the days events good and bad. Then with a smile he said, "I learned something today."

I asked him what that was.

His response..., "I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't want to be a teacher when I grow up!"

One profession down...lots to go.

As of right now he is still of the mind that he will be a marine biologist and part time dentist;-)

Phone Skills

2011-02-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

We were doing our scripture study this evening. The phone rang. We usually ignore it, but this time Sara went to answer it. We heard her in the other room answer the phone like this...

"Hello, I'm a Wilcox."

Then she was grumpy because no one answered back.

Too cute!

Happy Birthday Dave!

2011-01-25T16:39:00.000-08:00

This birthday boy just celebrated his 37th year! Since he is getting so old we had to make it extra special. This root beer cake was perfect! Can I just tell you how much I love the internet. I think if it were ever to crash it would thrust our world back into the dark ages. Certainly it would be a major loss to me. I love that I can always find what I am looking for anywhere I am (love you smart phone) and in an instant. I was in the grocery store puroosing the aisles looking for inspiration and finding nothing when I turned to the internet and found this beauty of a cake! It was so simple too. The easiest cake I have ever put together. The hardest part was breaking the bottles. They were very stubborn. I sure did make a racket. Every kid in the house was brought to the kitchen with the first blow to the glass. We finished off Dave's "Man Cave" with a dart board! He is now fully equipped to have some awesome parties with hard core entertainment!
Our other idea to make Dad's birthday extra special was to ambush him coming home from work. Each kid had their own color of silly string. I had the office manager give me a call (I was waiting in the car in the parking lot) when Dave was on his way out. We all raced to the door mission impossible style, being very special agentish. And then we waited. And waited. And waited! He we all are crouched behind cars in the parking lot, aiming our silly string freezing our booties off waiting for Dave. Seriously...we waited for 3o minutes. Then I texted Dave some lame excuse that didn't make any since telling him to come home. Five minutes later...still waiting! As the kids were starting to cry from being miserable and impatient I called him. This was my message, "Dave I am in the middle of cooking and I need eggs ASAP. Can you pick some up for me pronto?" Desperate....but he didn't answer. Then after what seemed like an eternity he came and we let him have it;-)
Happy birthday Honey! We all love you!

Going to State!!!

2011-01-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is Katie's reflections art entry for this school year. The contest theme was, "Together We Can...". Kate chose to draw this picture of penguins raising a baby together. And wrote, "together we can take care of our kids like the penguins."

Both Emily and Kate had their artwork move on to the district level.

We just found out yesterday that Kate's has moved on to the state level! Congratulations to my devoted little artist!

Reading...

2011-01-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

Kate said today...

"Mom, I think Sara really hates books."

"Why do you think that," I answered back?

"Because Dad is always reading a book, you are always reading a book, Chase and Emily are always reading books and now I am reading books too," she said.

Then followed up with, "Sara is just left out because she can't read."

Too cute!

Refreshed!

2011-01-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

It has always amazed me that real friends can pick up right where they left off with no hesitation. There aren't any awkward moments wondering if you will still have chemistry together. You don't worry about the fact that you haven't really seen each other in 7 years and your lives have been going in separate directions for so long you won't have anything in common any more. No worries. I didn't even think about it. I was going to see my California girls (I still call them that even though Aileen is in Colorado) and I knew it would be just like I had been at their houses yesterday. And it was. What a wonderful blessing friendship is!

Meet Sara, Kathryn, and Aileen. Three of my really wonderful friends! Seven years ago we all lived near each other in Colton, CA. We were best friends. The times we had together still make me smile. Trips to the beach, taking the kids out early and heading down to Disneyland for the day, parties, swimming days, science fair projects, every wonderful memory from Dave's years in dental school can usually be attributed to one of these amazing women!

We enjoyed our weekend together like you wouldn't believe. I didn't want to come home. It was so funny, we didn't stop talking. The poor people of Salt Lake must have thought we were the biggest chatty kathies ever. We talked while we shopped for clothes, talked while we ate, talked our way through the grocery store, talked until 1:00 in the morning...talked, talked, talked!
Salt lake was so cold! We were freezing! It snowed while we were there and coated everything in a blanket of white. It was beautiful! Walking through Temple square was so peaceful. We toured the conference center. The work of arts housed in that building amazed me. It was like being in an art museum. Watching the Joseph Smith movie made me cry and I left wanting to be a better mother and wife. We walked through the visitor's center and visited Desert books (and spent a little money there). We played games, watched a movie, soaked in the hot tub, gave ourselves facials and reveled in each others company!
One of the highlights of the trip for me was going to see music and the spoken word. I have never seen the Mormon Tabernacle Choir preform live. They were AMAZING. My favorite part of the morning was when the choir preformed a song accompanied by hand bells. It was beautiful. I got chills!This was my most favorite part of my little trip. Being with women that I LOVE and eating great food. In this particular photo we are eating at the Red Iguana. I would have loved to actually have tasted the food, but it was so spicy hot the whole inside of my mouth melted down. It was days before I could taste anything again. There was unfortunately a major lack of dessert on this trip. Unfortunately for me my girlfriends are a whole lot healthier than me. Next time...

Ladies I love you and it was so wonderful to see you all together again!

New Years Resolution

2011-01-06T19:08:00.001-08:00

Making goals can be a double edged sword! I think it is great to make them and strive to achieve them but then it can be sooo disappointing when you fail! Usually choose to work on things that I know are super important like:

-trying to get out of my pajamas at some point during the day

-loosing weight

-not raising my voice

-eating more healthy foods

All of these are noble goals. And they are usually on the list. But I never succeed. I don't care being in pajamas. I wear them to the store...to take the kids to school...I am not into dressing up every day. I would love to loose weight if I could snap my fingers and have it go away! But I love food and hate exercise! Not raising my voice, it just isn't in my biology. Dave says that even my whisper is too loud! So I was blessed with a loud voice and sometimes unfortunately I use it inappropriately - have you met my kids? And eating healthy - yikes, I don't know why I ever even try to make that happen!

So this year I decided it had to be different.

First, one goal. One goal only!

Second, it had to be really important!

So...my New Years Resolution for 2011...is...

TO REDEDICATE MYSELF TO OUR FAMILY BLOG!

Happy Birthday Sara

2010-12-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

It’s not always about other people’s babies. Today was all about my baby. Sara is 3 – so officially not a baby. But she is still just that in my heart. In fact Grandma sent an adorable outfit and as Sara was lifting it out of the box I thought to myself, “Why can’t Grandmas get clothing sizes right?” It looked huge, and there was no way it was going to fit. Then I looked at the tag – size 3. And still I doubted. It became all about how clothing manufactures keep altering their size standards and how frustrating that is when you are trying to get clothes that fit. And then Sara tried it on. It fit perfectly. I felt like crying. Because the party was all fun and games. But having her fit perfectly into clothes that looked like gigantic “big kid” clothes sealed the deal.

Sara you are all grown up. You are beautiful and full of spunk...

and will ALWAYS be my baby!

Back To School

2010-09-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE

Reasons to be excited for Kate-

-she will have a really good teacher this year

-her class is the smallest class which means more teacher attention

-her teacher loves to sing and so does Kate

-Mrs. Laramie works with a very defined schedule which Kate will appreciate

-I am excited for Kate to become a better reader

-I can't wait to see the stories she writes in her journal

-I am looking forward to helping in her classroom

Things that I worry about-

-I worry about Kate being to much of a perfectionist and getting frustrated when she doesn't have the time she wants to complete a task

-I worry about her making friends

-I worry that she is too quiet

-I worry that a full day will overwhelm her

FIFTH GRADE

Reasons to be excited for Emily-

-Emily made such wonderful progress last year I am excited to see her continue

-She doesn't hate school anymore

-her teacher seems to be really on the ball and a serious educator

-I am really looking forward to reading more stories from Emily, she could be a famous writer someday her stuff is so fun to read

-two of her friends from last year will be with her in her new class

Things that I worry about-

-I worry that she will get discouraged with learning again when math gets harder

-I worry that making friends will go as slowly as it did last year

-I worry that kids will make fun of her for being a goof ball, or that kids will really love that and encourage her to be more of a class clown

-I worry that we will have major homework battles

SEVENTH GRADE - JUNIOR HIGH

Reasons to be excited for Chase-

-Chase will be starting at his very own school...no sisters

-he will have really awesome teachers strained to stimulate fast learning minds like his

-he won't be bored to death in class anymore now that he is grouped with a bunch of other smarty pants kids like him

-Chase will have lots of opportunities at his new school to really excel

-he will get to start school sports

Things that I worry about-

-I really worry about the influences of the older kids

-I worry that his new work load and schedule will overwhelm him

-I worry he will have a hard time making friends and finding good kids to hang out with at lunch

-I worry that the homework load will be too much

-I worry that kids will make fun of his messy hair (because he still doesn't do anything with it)

-I worry he will be the smallest kid (Wilcox kids are late bloomers!)

Our Island In The Sun

2010-08-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well is it too much to WISH that it was "our" island. If I were to ever win a bunch of money, buying a house on Anderson Island along this lake would be top on the priority list. Everything about it is perfect. It is a little lake surrounded by beautiful homes on a quaint island a short ferry ride away from the mainland. It is the easy vacation to plan. We throw some swim stuff in the car, drive onto a giant boat and then within minutes we are in another place, far from home enjoying the good old life. I love that the water is warm enough to swim in (even for me and that's saying something). I really love that there is a shallow section surrounded by boardwalk and equipped with a slide and and a sandy beach for the little kids. And then to make it even better they have platforms and rigging out in the lake for big kids. There isn't a lot of motor sport going on to add noise and chaos either. We bring the dutch oven, start up some ribs, play games at the picnic table...maybe a game of Bocci and enjoy the summer sun. It is perfect. I short write real estate adds for Anderson Island homes. Seriously I love this place. I think we went three times this summer. I get great pleasure in bringing friends who are then dumbstruck that such a wonderful place is so close to home. It's destinations like this that make me LOVE my state!!!

This time we had friends with kayaks with us. I must get my hands on a pair of kayaks! They are the bomb. I thought canoes were awesome. Kayaks are lighter and easier to handle. I think we will have to add some to our already too full garage soon. The kids had a blast playing pirates boys against girls.

For a moment today reminded me of my beach going days with girlfriends in California. The company was awesome. Our kids were in heaven. Except there weren't any crowds!

Currency

2010-08-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Katie wanted me to take her to target on Saturday. Money was burning a hole in her pocket! She came down with 10 Mexican bills. I told her Mexican money wouldn't work. We had a little discussion about how she needed American money, the whole time she is swinging her arms and rolling her eyes around in her head barely keeping it together. I sent her upstairs to bring down the right kind of money. A few minutes later she comes sulking down the stairs in near hysterics (which Kate is getting really good at) because all she has is Mexican money and "Washington" money.

I knew she wouldn't understand but I couldn't stop myself from a few hysterical laughs at her expense before trying to explain. I still don't think she understands...

Exotic Creams

2010-08-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

My girls are taking a bath. The "mommy" chore I hate the most. But a bath was necessary. Both Sara and Kate played outside all day today. Sara has what Dad calls, "Walmart" feet. And Kate has a peculiar odor about her. She spent her entire afternoon making exotic creams.

First she harvested flower petals. It is a good thing we have tons of flowers in our yard. I am amazed that the poor plants are somehow keeping up with their flower productivity in spite of all three girls (and all their friends) constantly picking. I just went out side to see what Kate has been up to all this time and stumbled upon her

little manufacturing plant. In one bowl she has her harvested flower petals. In another bowl some sawdust. I noticed her coming in the house several times to collect her "secret ingredient", my spray foam soap from Bath and Body. So with those three key ingredients...whala...EXOCTIC CREAMS!

I love her presentation. How cute is that, presenting her creams on a half shell.

I didn't say a word at all today about it to her. I bit my tongue several times when she came in through my master bedroom sliding door (a major no no) to collect soap.

I bit my tongue as I looked out the window and countless times saw her picking flowers (another no no...but I'm losing this battle - next ye

ar they will have their own cutting garden). I bit my lip as several of my bowls found there way into the yard and out of the comforts and protection of my kitchen (another no no). And I haven't said a word about all the sawdust covering the garage floor (another no no). I watched her playing creatively and peacefully all by herself and thought to myself let it go. I am proud of myself. Today I tried to be more like a dear friend of mine who is always letting her kids create and experiment.

So what do I have to show for it?

-some potent smelling "exotic creams"

-a load of laundry

-a bit of sweeping

-a daughter with a well exercised imagination

-and a really happy little girl who for the first time in weeks hasn't screamed about anything all day long

Camp Hahobas

2010-08-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

In the words of Chase:

Camp was really great. I was really busy earning six merit badges. This year I earned wilderness survival, swimming, art, cooking, small boat sailing and first aid. I earned the second most merit badges in my troop!

My favorite thing about camp was small boat sailing. I learned that I really like sailing. One of the best things was that I got to do it all by myself. My Dad said that small

boat sailing was one of his favorite merit badges too. It was really annoying though

to try to teach someone else. They always thought it looked easy and thought they knew what to do. So they wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't teach them if they wouldn't listen and then they would end up capsizing th boat! With both of us in it.

My least favorite thing about camp was walking to my cooking place everyday. It was like two miles a way. I had to go there to work on my orienteering badge too. Way too much walking. By the end of the day every day I thought I was going to colapse!

Shooting at the Archery station was really hard. Only one person in the whole camp was able to qualify. They had the worst bows and arrows. They were all home made by the teenage counselor there. None of the arrows would fly straight.

They were way

smaller bows then mine. The arrows weren't flying with any force. They would just bounc

e off of everything. I got several bulls eyes but only one of them stuck.

Another badge I really liked working on was wilderness survival. I really wanted to do it because I thoug

ht I was going to be like Survival man. But they wouldn't let us bring food or even start our own fire. So I had to make a shelter and overnight with no fire. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be because we spent our whole night building our shelter and then went to sleep and we were done.

I had a lot of fun starting fires with my friends and making weapons for raccoon hunting. Raccoons were a really big pest

at the camp and so they gave us permission to scare away the

raccoons. We called it raccoon hunting. I never was able to

stay up long enough to do it. All of my badges were so spread out I had to do lots of walking.

The food was OK. Everyone else thought it was horrible though. The best night was pizza night.

Dad got to come down on the last day. That night our troop had a burping contest. I was lord of the burp. No one could even come close. They told us that who ever won was going to get a prize. But the prize

was cleaning the Kiabo A.K.A. bathroom. I never had to do it though because we had to leave and they hadn't gotten us the tool that we needed to do it.

Next year I am going to work on getting more

required merit badges. I might try the shot gun range too. But will have to see if we got to camp after my birthday because I will have to be thirteen. Being a Boy Scout is much better than being a Cub Scout. We get to do way better activities.

Wish Granted

2010-07-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

We make the trip down to California at least once a year. It is always a hard trip. First you have the daunting drive down and back. 40 hours in the car. Packed full of kids and all their stuff, massive amounts of snacks designed to keeps mouths busy and a big oaf of a dog. Then when we get there we are totally wasted and the kids are bursting with pent up energy. During our short stay (usually 4 or 5 days) we have 5 families to try and spend a day with. Best case scenario that is a family a day some of which require even more driving. Then we try and squeeze in a way too short visit with dear friends. Way too much. We end up spending the vacation with way too much time wasted in the car and it is all segmented into little bits here and there. We rarely get any quality time and hardly ever get the chance to do something that will give our kids an opportunity to really bond with their cousins and Grandparents and make some solid memories. I try not to complain to Dave about the quality of our California trips because I know what I want I forfeited when I strong armed Dave into staying put in Washington. But sometimes a girl wants her cake and to eat it too. RIGHT!

So last time when we got back from our trip I told Dave that things needed to change. We needed more "meaningful" time with his family. We needed opportunities to really be together and enjoy our stay. He was grumpy and I really don't think he understood.

A few months later we heard that the Cali part of the family (not Washington, Idaho or Hawaii) would be getting together to camp at lake Webb and go water skiing. They would be at the lake for 1 1/2 days. Everyone together having fun and making memories. I knew we had to be there. That was exactly what I had told Dave I wished we could be part of. It was a crazy idea. So much driving for such a small stay. But beggars can't be choosers and we needed this! We still had Grandma Wilcox with us (from coming to see Chase be ordained) and she agreed to drive down with me. And then we would fly Dave in the night before the ski trip. He was limited by h

ow much time he could be away from work. We left to camp and hang out at the lake the next morning.

Our day at the lake with family was wonderful. What a blessing it is to be with so many wonderful people. We played in the water, roasted smores, surprised Grandma with Liz's homemade peach pie in the middle of a camping trip, played laser tag and told stories late into the night. At one point I went looking for Kate and Sara and found them with the younger batch of cousins hiding in a tent playing pet shops by light of the lantern. How darling is that?

It was such a wonderful evening and I went to bed knowing already that it was all worth it.

The next morning the water activities really began. Grandpa had so many fun new toys that everyone was eager to play with. The kids really loved riding on these. Grandpa spent most of his day pulling it behind his boat. It was tons of fun and I even had to get in on the actio

n. the kids got wasted several times. No one ever flew sky high but there was some close calls and a bit of head bashing.

Kate and Sara were in Heaven playing in the shallows with their cousins Carina and Claire. Those two little angles were so good to my girls. Carina and Claire are super close. I was a little worried that they would have a hard time including my girls who sadly, they don't know very well. It melted my heart to see the opposite. They openly invited Kate to play every game. They were mermaids, sea horses, sweet girls playing ring around the roses and so many other fun things.

Sara enjoyed every single moment. She was showered with attention from Grandma, her Aunts and cousins. I am sure she felt like a queen bee!

After lunch though the heat started to get to the poor Washington Wilcoxs. I think we were suffering from heat stroke, seriously. We had come from high 60's and were baking in temperatures over 110. After about 3:00 my kids had all migrated to the canopy that had been set up for shade. Chase and Emily never went back.

All of their cousins were out on the boat watching the very popular BATTLE OF THE DADS! Grandpa was toeing two donuts and the Dads were fighting to be king by knocking each other off. It was good fun. I was cracking up listing to the kids cheer for their Dads. Uncle Brent was the DOMINATOR. Willie's form was always really great but he almost always ended up like this...

After watching the Dad's battle each other for an hour I came back onto the beach and saw my kids - half melted puddles on the grass. Chase was miserable and grumpy and Emily was starting to fall apart emotionally about who knows what. So I told Dave that we had to get out of Cali. We really needed that air conditioned car!!!! He begged for one last chance out on the water to do his thing.

Then we were off like a bat out of _ _ _ _. Seriously, the heat was life threatening by that point. We took a group shot with everyone and then started our long drive back home. Dave had to be back to work the next day.

So our quick as lightening trip to California was painful but SO SO SO VERY WORTH IT!

Becoming A Young Man

2010-07-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

This was Chase's big weekend. Today he went from being a boy to beginning his journey to Manhood. I looked at him all dressed up nice and excited to get the Priesthood and I couldn't believe how fast time has flown. He was just a boy swinging swords, playing legos, racing hot wheel cars and building forts. Now he is in Junior High taking classes that are so beyond me I can't even help him with his homework. He turned twelve and all of the sudden he is busy as can be. We have soccer practice twice a week, a game every week, mutual now and then Junior high has brought hours of homework everyday.

Seeing him all grown up makes me wonder if I have done enough to teach him. What kind of choices will he make now that they are going to really start to mater. Does he know we love him? Will he start to grow out of that occasional sweetness he surprises us with. What will his new interests and hobbies be. I look at him and there is just a clean blank slate. A whole life ahead of him waiting to be filled. I love him. My only son, I am so proud of you.

Chase had lots of family come to support him and celebrate his ordination. You can hardly see him in the background there. But that is one very happy Deacon. He beamed from ear to ear. I wasn't really thinking clearly that Sunday. It has been so long since we have had a big "milestone" blessing. Usually I try to record them or write notes in shorthand so that I can write it down for my children to remember. But I was so overwhelmed being in a room with all these wonderful people. You could feel the love in that room. Even now as I write about it tears come. Chase is so lucky to have so many wonderful people in his life. So I don't remember anything about his blessing. I just remember the feelings. I was so proud.

Chase had quite the support team. Here he is with his Dad, my Father (Bob), Dave's father (Wayne) and Chase's Great Grandpa (Bob or Papo). These are all great men. They are wonderful examples to Chase. This October they are going to try to get together to meet in Salt Lake for the Priesthood Session of conference. This is Chase's chain. He has a lot to look up.

post script:

Chase has been preforming his priesthood duties now for a few months. He takes it very seriously. Every Sunday he puts on Papo's watch and ring and dresses sharply to look his best. He makes sure that we are leaving with enough time to get him to church with enough time to be ready to pass the Sacrament. Watching him makes me so proud. I love when he is passing to our row. He is very serious about it. He loves getting to call on people to say the prayer when Dad is not home. Last Sunday he was called to be the secretary in the Deacon's quorum. And best of all a few weeks ago he bore his testimony. He said, "I am really glad that I have the Priesthood. Before I used to not like coming to church. Now I like coming. I like how I feel when I pass the Sacrament. " There was more but I couldn't remember and again I wasn't writing. Partly because I was caught by surprised and didn't have stuff handed to record his testimony, but mostly because I was so darn proud and happy I was busy wiping away tears.

Good Times

2010-07-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures from the weekend. We are really enjoying our company! Good Times!!

Death Of A Deer

2010-07-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

We were on our way home from High Rock. And when I say we were totally wasted I mean it. No exaggeration. It was a long hike but it was up the whole way and back. That is an exaggeration, but it certainly felt like it. To make maters worse we hadn't had any breaks because stopping meant being eaten alive by mosquitoes. I will never forget mosquito repellent again! So were were really tired. It was also dark. So we were tired, it was dark and no...no one was drunk...

All of a sudden we see a deer in the road. A young female. Dave slows down, it starts to move off the road and them for who knows what reason it decides to stand it's ground. Maybe there is some truth to that "deer in the headlights" saying. It totally froze. Dave didn't even have time to think to swerve to the other side of the street. The deer decided at the very last moment to spring for safety. Too late. We caught her flank on the corner of our right bumper.

Emily started wailing. She totally lost control. We were deer killers. She was inconsolable. I didn't know what to do. It was too dark to see what had happened to the deer. I thought about stopping but we didn't have a gun to shoot the deer if it was on deaths door. I can only imagine how Emily's emotional status would have escalated if we did stop and she had been able to see the deer dying on the road. It was awful. We listened to her wailing for at least another 30 minutes.

Moral of the story...Don't kill a deer or your daughter will hate you for it!

High Rock

2010-07-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love taking my parents to the beautiful places of Washington when they come to visit. Someday maybe I will convince them to by a summer home up here. Then they could be snow birds and winter in Arizona. It would be perfect my sister and I could split them 50/50.

High Rock is an old fire look out that has been on the top of my list of hikes to do ever since our friends the Bakers went a few years ago. He brought back knock your socks of pictures. I will buy one from him some day for our home! We tried taking my parents last time they came to visit but there was still snow on the ground. This visit I knew the weather would be perfect.

The hike itself was beautiful. It was lined by wild blueberry and huckleberry bushes. And the wild flowers were amazing. Sara starting a bouquet at the beginning of her assent to the top and this is what she had collected by the time she reached the top. So many beautiful colors. We had fun helping her add to her collection.

We had some really beautiful panorama vistas on our way up. Once we got half way we finally had an opening on the the side Rainer was on. I don't know how it works but it felt like we were up just as high and looking across to it from equal ground. Unfortunately we were not able to stop and enjoy the views for very long or very often. I had forgotten bug spray and they little blood suckers were relentless. We literally had to push forward the whole way up (and it was up the whole way) in order to keep ahead of the mosquitoes.Here the girls are at the top on the look out tower. We were the only ones up there. It was so nice to have it all to our selves. I don't exaggerate one bit when I say it is the best view I have ever seen. What an amazing payoff for such a short hike! Dave and I have already talked about bringing the kids back up backpacking and over knighting in the cabin. It was stunning. We could see across the sound and to the Olympics on the one side. Rainier huge and imposing and rocks throw away (or so it seemed). And then we could see Adams, Helens and Hood on the other side. Grandma and Grandpa we treated to something truly, beautifully Washington. They didn't really have a chance to relax and soak it all in though. Boy were they having fits watching the girls play on the rock outcroppings. Look at that hold my Mom has on Kate! My poor Dad couldn't take it anymore. In order to prevent a heart attack he started heading back down. Too be fair i was a little freaked out too. Sara just didn't know how to be safe and Emily is a horrible combination of carefree and klutzy! So they had to spend most of their time in the cabin while Dave, Grandma and I waited around for the sun to set.

It was a great trip. I love going special places with Grandma and Grandpa. And maybe someday I will convince them to spend more time here!

You Saw It First Here!

2010-07-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Papo deserves saint status for these precious moments. First for letting my girls do his hair (don't touch Grandpa's hair). And second for letting me take a picture of it. Third if he lives trough seeing these on line, for not being angry with me! Love you Grandpa for being so good to my kids!!!

Diary of a Disgruntled Computer

2010-07-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Log:

I think every piece of my wiring is fried. It is all I can do to work for 5 minutes before everything backfires and I fall into a horrible black abyss. I have been trying to send my operators signals for months now that things are not as they should be. My manufacturer should have equipped me with a flashing warning signal with bright red and white fonts and strobbing lights so that I could more effectively warn my operators. As it is my attempts at slowing down, having mini crashes and needed to be restarted are not getting the message across.

Not that they are great operators anyway. Maybe they deserve the problems I am unable to shelter them from. They are constantly forcing an inordinate amount of large files on me. I barely have a mega bite to spare. The photographer lady...she is the worst. Really, how many pictures can one person need. People are definitely not very efficient. The funny thing is, is that she thinks she is pretty good at keeping me organized and paring down her files. If she only knew. If computers could refrigerate I would.

And then there are the male operators. Hours upon hours of gaming. A computer has to have some rest. Really I am surprised my RAM and video cards still function at all.

Yesterday I reached a point of insustainability. I crashed. I crashed hard. My poor operators were trying frantically to make sure things were all backed up appropriately. They had finally read the writing on my wall. Too late. I could here through my comatose state that they were very upset; especially the female. I could her some yelling and then crying..but there wasn't any thing I could do. I know some of the females pictures have been lost. Listening to her they were very important ones.

Being a computer is hard work. Hopefully the technician that they sent me to will be competent and set things right. Hopefully...

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

2010-07-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

What do you do to celebrate a boy's birthday when he is turning 12? You want it to be super memorable. He is too old for toys and not really into big kid things like clothes, watches etc.. He never asks for anything really so you don't have much to go on.

What do you do for your Grandpa who is coming to visit for your son's special weekend? He wants to spend some one on one quality time with Chase. He isn't very mobile. He has high class tastes too.

What do you do???

It took me a few weeks to think up something satisfactory. Finally I felt I had an idea good enough to run by Dave. How about a private chartered flight??? Chase loves flying. Papo loves flying and tells us all the time about his private jet and flying years. It wouldn't require any walking. Best of all it is special and hopefully memorable.

It was a winner. We asked Chase what he thought about a sunset flight to Mt. Rainer with Papo. He was all over it.

We had fun surprising Great Grandpa with the idea too. I drove them to the airfield with strict instructions to take some pictures. Both men young and old enjoyed the flight. Chase even got to help land the plane. So I think it was a success. Chase and Papo were both really excited to tell me all about it when I picked them up! I think it was the perfect way to celebrate my son becoming a young man.

Chuck Norris

2010-07-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

The kids started looking up Chuck Norris jokes on the computer yesterday. While we were at Famous Dave's for Emily's birthday dinner last night we had so much fun laughing as they recounted back to us all of their favorites. Here are the top five funniest jokes from last night:

#5 Chuck Norris actually died 10 years ago but the grim reaper has been to afraid to tell him.

#4 If you have $5 and Chuck Norris has $5 than Chuck Norris has more money than you.

#3 If you decide to try and search for Chuck Norris with Google, be sure to spell the name correctly. Otherwise, instead of Google offering the correct spelling it gives you the warning --- "Run, before he finds you"

#2 When the boogie man goes to bed he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

#1 Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

Happy Birthday Emily

2010-07-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Emily's birthday on the road this year. It almost didn't happen though. What a crazy night. We had just enjoyed a hike and an evening at the beach. As we pull into our campsite, where we had already set up camp...we see a huge trailer pulled all the way into our spot. TROUBLE. When we chose our spot it was the only one that had another spot next door that would work with having Judy and Kaitlyn camping with us. We set up camp (it was totally barren) and then went to pay at one of those board things were you put in your slip and money. Imagine our surprise when there was already a slip and money in our spot. There wasn't any reserved notice at the site and it was TOTALLY BARREN. So I assumed that the campers before had the site for multiple days and have moved on a day early. Well...coming back to a trailer in our spot let us know we had assumed wrong. The crazy rude thing is that they could have just gone to another spot. Maybe one that was meant for a large trailer not a tent spot. But no. No amount of the ranger trying to talk them into moving worked. They were not budging. Even thought he rules are that if you have paid for a site you have to leave something in the area. So we had to move all of our stuff and re set up camp at 8:00 at night when we would rather be sitting by the fire. Crazy people never even left their stupid trailer (they kind of made me mad).

So after we re-set up camp, we celebrated Emily's birthday with some yummy brownies a birthday song and some silly stories. Happy number 10 Emma!

Sundown

2010-07-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller~

La Push

2010-07-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

Our first Washington camping trip of the summer. It was last minute and so we were really limited by available sites. Emily was really excited that Kaitlyn and Judy would be joining us. It had been a whole year since we had camped together. La Push was literally the only place available. So even though we have been up in this area several times we found ourselves headed back.

This was our day at the beach. Nothing holds back a child. Not even freezing could water on an overcast day. I knew they wouldn't be able to resist getting their feet wet. I totally didn't see Kate getting almost all the way in. How come children can't feel the cold. I was freezing in my clothes with a jacket.

I really enjoyed watching Sara and Kate spinning. We have a handicapped sister in our ward. She says the thing she looks forward to the most in Heaven is getting to spin. There is something magical about spinning.

There were lots of little treasure on the beach. Even a waterfall. We sat and watched the kids play and then walked along the surf until the sun set. It was a really wonderful evening. I think we were all reluctant to leave because what we thought would be a really short hike in seemed really long. I knew it was going to seem even longer on the way out. But we had to get back.

Baptism Day

2010-07-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a really a once in a life time sort of day. Not every one is lucky enough to have an awesome friend like Judy and her daughter Kaitlyn. And even fewer people are lucky enough to have those friends find and accept the Gospel.

We had been living in Dupont for about a year. Judy and Kait lived across the ally from us and a few houses down.

Kaitlyn and Emily had been working on their friendship for a while and were starting to become very good friends. I had the impression several times that I should introduce Judy to the Gospel and what I believe. My acting on that prompting was very limited to inviting her to a ward activity. I also invited Kait to start coming to achievement days with my class, because at that time I was Emily's leader. (short lived greatest calling ever!) We invited her to a few things that her schedule prevented her f

rom attending and so there wasn't much else going on.

Then Judy had surgery that took her out of commission for several months. I remember being frustrated because we were pretty good friends by then and she was recovering at her parents house and I felt it was difficult to serve her or be there for her. She was on bed rest for an eternity. And all that time she was learning about the church. Judy had discovered the BYU channel. I think it was just the perfect thing for her. She is so smart and really enjoyed all the intellectual religious stuff that BYU pumps out. She eventually returned home and a few weeks later I get a phone call.

I can tell she is beating around the bush...

There is a little bit of small talk...

We discuss getting together for one of the evenings that n

ight to play rock band...

and then she says, "So when are you going to tell me about your church?"

Long pause...

I couldn't believe it! So I said, "Do you want to come over now?"

I was afraid she would change her mind or I would chicken out about telling her if we set a later date.

From there, there was lots of reading (I mean LOTS - like as in everything I could find to give her and then tons of stuff she starting reading on her own

). She met with the couple missionaries and we had several discussions. Things were going really great. I felt so good to be heaving a good missionary experience. We were praying for her as a family and all focused on teaching. Then things cooled off. It was really sad. I think she felt pushed by the missionaries, unsure of her feelings, scared of the reaction of her friends and family and there was a habit that was giving her a hard time. Anyway for the next year and 1/2 I waited. I tried to gently ask her every once in while if she was still studying it out in her mind. I was always worried about pushing too hard for her to come to a conclusion and then torn by being worried that if I never said anything she would think I had just dropped it all and given up.

Looking back I think that teaching Judy about the gospel k

ept me alive in it. I was going through a really hard time with my Primary calling and working through some problems at home and with my church leaders and I was not at all living in a "strong testimony" moment. And even though I felt like giving up on myself Judy kept me going because I had to be an example to her. Looking back it was around the same time that I started to figure myself out that Judy decided to be baptized. I know her investigation of the Church was a blessing to me. It made me face my own weaknesses and by sharing my testimony with Judy I was reminded on several occasions during that year of great weakness that I actually had one. She wasn't even a member of the church and she was being a missionary to me.

After our trip to the Temple it had all come down to her worry about her parents response. She set a day to talk with them about her decision to join the c

hurch. The Sisters and our family fasted that day for her. I thought about her all day long. I knew she was sick with nerves. And yet I knew with confidence that her parents would accept her decision. That evening when we talked I was surprised to learn that her parents not only had accepted her choice but offered support. They would come to the baptism and be there for her like they always are. I cried with happiness for her.

So the baptism was wonderful. I experienced so much joy watching her become a member of the church. She is more than just a friend, she is my sister!

Emily Is A Missionary

2010-07-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Emily has ALWAYS been blessed to have EXCELLENT friends. I have loved every single one of them. They have all been amazing young ladies. One of her very best friends is Kaitlyn Flugga. For the last five years Kait and Emily have been a team. They compliment each other perfectly.

Emily this week gets to see her friend be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. For the last 2 1/2 years she has been an little missionary. Kaitlyn has gone with her to church activities, achievement days, primary and as of late every other week Kaitlyn and her mother Judy (one of my very best friends) have come to church in it's entirety with her.

Emily:

I am really happy Kaitlyn is getting baptized. It has been really cool that we have been telling her about the Church. I am happy that she can come to my class. Heavenly Father told us to tell all our friends about his church. Now she will know all the right stuff and all the true stuff. I know she will be really happy that she knows the truth. Life is a lot easier when you know the truth.

Young Eagles

2010-06-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

There have been many things that we miss being part of now that we have left DuPont. Naturally finding out about all the stuff our new home of Puyallup has to offer has been slow. Puyallup is so much bigger. The nice thing about living in a small town like Dupont is everyone always knows what's going on. Not so great if you are trying to keep family secrets but awesome if you want to be involved and have fun stuff to do.

Dave called me from work to tell me about this opportunity. The local airport here host Young Eagles once a year. Kids from 8 to 18 can go up one on one with a pilot for a 15 minute ride in a small plane. I knew it sounded too good to be true but it was worth a try so we signed the kids up.

Well, good news, it was better than we could have hoped for. First of all there were no strings attached. Not a single one. No one pushing you to donate money. No one making you feel guilty about anything. Just plain old community service by a bunch of guys that own planes. We didn't even have to pay for the gas.

All of the kids were divided into small group of 10 or so. Then the kids first went through a short safety course about flying. Then their guide took them to a plane and they learned about all the different parts of the plane and all about how planes can fly. After the short intro to flight they just waited for a pilot to come and get them. Emily and Chase didn't even have to fly together. They took each one up in their own plane.

Both kids were super excited about it. Emily's pilot did some tricks with her and Chase's pilot let him fly for a bit. Smiles were awfully big that afternoon. The little girls and Dad and I had fun touring the field and checking out all the different types of planes. The weather was perfect and we had lemonade and treats. It was awesome. Definitely a must do every year in Puyallup!

PS If you are wondering why Chase looks like a leper...he is VERY allergic to poison ivy!!!

Karie's Smile

2010-06-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is Kate's smile. Straight lips totally closed. I think you can always see timidity in her eyes, but they are always happy. (if she's smiling...if she is in the throws of a tantrum which seem to happen increasingly often these days...well don't look at her eyes, they'll turn you to stone). I hate that she hides her teeth and is so straight lipped. I always try to coax her into showing me some teeth. But then her smile is so forced it is absolutely not genuine looking at all. So I have stopped asking her - for the most part. There are rare moments when I get a totally spontaneous absolutely happy open lipped smile out of Kate. But then I am usually enjoying the moment with her too much to capture it with the camera. So for the most part most of my pictures of Kate are sure to have this reserved smile. That's who she is, sweet and contemplative.

Sara's Smile

2010-06-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

This is Sara's smile. Can't you see the mischief not only in her eyes but in the way she smiles?! She is 100% trouble and I think her little smile totally gives it away! She either smile with tight little lips biting her bottom lip and showing off those cute tiny teeth. Or she is taking it way over the top. I usually get this second smile if I ask her to smile. Her eyes open wide, she grins ear to ear, shows as many teeth as possible and then adds a bit of attitude. This is Sara!

Hiking in Idaho

2010-06-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

I love Sallie! I love that she lives in Idaho. You have no idea how perfect it is that her home is the half way point from here to Utah. It makes traveling to Utah so much easier!And the best thing is that we love our days with the McArthurs. Sallie learned the art of hospitality from Dave's mom. Everyone was always welcome at Wilcox HQ. I always feel welcome even if I will be arriving at awful early morning hours! She makes us yummy meals, clears her schedule to spend time with us and usually has some totally great activity planned. She is even thoughtful enough to get us out and about to stretch our legs. Last year we really loved floating down the Boise river! This year we went on a small hike to see a waterfall.

The kids were really excited about the hike. I really do have a wild bunch of explorers. I think the best thing really was getting out of the car and running around. The waterfall was nice, but oh man was that water frigid. I don't know where it comes from but it was more than COLD!!! I bribed Emily and Chase $5 bucks each if they would swim out to the falls. They were both game. Poor Emily brave as she is only made it half way. She is a slower swimmer. I was about to jump in after her. The water was so cold she looked like she was having trouble breathing. Chase made it all the way out and then suffered there perched on a rock as he crapped from the cold unwilling to come back. Poor kids. I am such a mean Mom! Really the water was so cold I didn't even put my feet in because it hurt!!!

Here the kids are blazing their own path. It might be their very last time cutting their own trails. Chase ran into some kind of poisonous plant. I never saw any poison ivy or oak but it must have been there. If it is there he finds it. Several people have told us it doesn't grown in Western Washington. Well, Chase has found it. And now we know it was somewhere on this hike. We noticed it the next day! Now that we have experience though we started treating it right away. They sell stuff that neutralizes the oils and we washed EVERYTHING!

But the damage had already been done. This is Chase after two weeks of healing. Scary huh. It got so bad and swollen that the doctor put him on some heavy doses of steroids and antibiotic cream. So now we know...Chase is very allergic to the nasty stuff!!! Don't worry (I did) no scarring!

PS Another great thing about our trip was that Ray noticed I had an almost flat tire which we fixed on the way home. I would have been in whole heaps of trouble the next morning!

Kathy's Farm

2010-06-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our Aunt Kathy has a farm E-I-E-I-O...

Well not really but my kids think it's hers and that it is wonderland. Kathy has a friend up the road who has a working farm. Every time we visit she brings us to the farm. We "adults" sit and talk while the kids play with their extended cousins and discover the wonders of farm life.

From collecting eggs, catching humming birds, feeding the horses, watching the pigs wallow, playing with gots, csnuggling with kittens, chasing baby geese, searching for snakes...you name it...Kathy's farm has it. And this year there were two brand new ponies on the farm. That was heaven.

It was so fun to watch the kids running in the fields with the horses and trying to steer clear of mommy horse's hooves!

We had a wonderful lunch and then sat back to relax in the shade while the kids played on. And as we sat we were groomed by the goose. How many farms have a shoe grooming goose? Not to many I tell ya!

All The Great Grandkids Minus Three

2010-06-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Flying Planes

2010-06-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

It has been the summer of planes! Here we are flying again. Well not actually. We are flying planes. Or trying to fly a plane. Chase and Papo had the best luck. I think the girls just didn't have a strong enough arm to give it a good start. Papo bought us this remote control plane last year. But the weather wasn't right and then he was sick and so it isn't until almost a year later that we are flying!

It was a wonderful afternoon activity. I love that my Grandpa tries to find activities to spend quality time with the kids. He is the best!

The Apple Of Her Eye

2010-06-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

2010-06-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

We are in Utah again! School got out and we were on the road! In a mad dash to get to Utah before it gets hot and to get back to Washington before summer BLISS begins. After asking friends where we should go for some fun (we rarely explore much of Utah when we visit) I decided Park City was a must. It sounded like something the kids would love. I had hoped that there would be more places to sit and enjoy watching the kids than there were though. It is always such a hard balance to find places to satisfy my rambunctious kids and easy going enough (mostly meaning low activity) for Grandpa. I was so surprised Park City has such scant amount of seating! After looking around I came to the conclusion that the only place to sit was the chair lift. So Papo, Sara and I went on a long tram ride. (don't you love how Sara's pants are slowly slipping off her hiney!?!)

We did eventually find seats. From there Papo and I were able to watch the kids play on the trampolines, come down the alpine slides and dance and spin in the court yard.

After an hour or two we started to die. It was such a hot day, but we had to get our moneys worth. Papo treated everyone to ice cream and I treated everyone to a sunburn. Washington has spoiled me. I so rarely have to worry about sun like we did in California and should have here in Utah! By the time I thought to buy sunscreen it was too late. So much for taking good care of my Grandpa. We burnt up pretty good!

2010-06-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I was absolutely manipulated by my two year old. I took the kids to Old Navy so that I could by my three oldest a summer outfit to wear to Utah. Buying clothes for Sara was not at all in the plans! That little girl has more clothes than we have hangers.

I walked with the kids around the store for 15 minutes getting more an more frustrated by the minute!They were being such BLAH shoppers. No one was finding anything that screamed awesome to them. They were all having zero interest in any of the outfits I was selecting for them. I was about to lose my mind. The girls were solely interested in playing with the hula hoops and all Chase wanted to do was look for quarters on the ground to buy bouncy balls from their quarter machine.

Then there was Sara. She was all over the place. One minute she was a t a table oohing and awing over a shirt. Then she was pulling clothes of the racks and running to plead for them. She had accessories picked out and and was wearing half of the stuff she was finding. She was totally cracking me up! I had to take some pictures (unfortunately with my IPhone). We walked out of the store with nothing for the girls, a pair of shorts for Chase and a whole bag full of clothes (that we didn't need) for Sara. I would say my little two year old has definitely learned how to work the system!

I love my little passionate shopper!!!

Smile of The Day

2010-06-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend just emailed me this video and I laughed so hard. It's awesome. Awesome enough to make me possibly consider becoming a Toyota girl and leaving Honda at the altar. No...not really....

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My Informercial Queen

2010-06-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Katie is a sucker for commercials! It cracks me up. A few months ago she came to me and told me that she saw something on TV that only cost $19 that would make my skin really soft and it had everything I needed. This cool scrubber, that nifty polisher etc... It was in response to me telling her I wish I had baby soft skin like her and Sara.

Every week there is some new toy that she wants. Mind you we watch very little commercials. Mostly the kids watch Nick Jr which is commercial free bless there hearts. But occasionally Chase is on one of the bigger kid cartoon channels and they get her. This week she is all about Pillow Pets. That is what she wants for her birthday. At Christmas it was Zhu Zhu pets. Who knows what it will be next week.

I wish I could remember the words that came out of her mouth a couple of days. It was another one of those, "Mom I saw the perfect thing for you" conversations. My mind is drawing a total blank now that I am trying to blog about it. But it was SOOOOO funny. I vaguely remember that it was about my feet. Humm...maybe she will remember.

Yard Work And The Hazards Of Being "Industrious"

2010-05-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

Dave and I started another project. We haven't even finished our last project. The moulding for the chair rail hasn't been put up. But the playroom is mostly done and I think we were both bored with it. So onto something new! When we moved into the house I can still remember Dave saying it was unamerican to not have a lawn. Crazy huh, we moved onto 8/10ths of an acre and we don't have grass. I think we both thought putting grass in would be the easiest and least costly of the long list of things we want to do around the house. So A delivery of 7 tons of huge rocks and the rental of one tractor backhoe thingy and we were off to modify the yard.

Moving 7 tons of massive rocks up our crazy steep driveway was...well...crazy. That poor tractor. If it had feelings it would be crying. Once we got the rocks up into the yard we began a rock wall. Everything always looks easier then it is. It took us almost all day with both of us working until our arms couldn't lift their own weight to finish it. Even though we were both being super cautious both of us smashed our fingers. I think I screamed bloody murder for 30 minutes (at least). Why does finger trauma hurt so bad! Here it is. My horribly ugly squished and abused finger. It still hurts and it has been a whole week. I have learned to do everything without the use of my pore pointer finger. Typing was challenging at first, but I have gotten the hang of it. The thing I dreaded most was washing my hair. I almost went into Great Clips or someplace similar just have pay someone to wash my hair. Just yesterday I got brave enough to try it myself. I came to the conclusion that I have too much hair. And that water torture is a real viable form of inflicting pain. I grimaced with every drop of water that hit my finger. Not cool.

After we got the rock wall finished we had to come up with enough dirt to fill in the future yard. Perfect - I've been wanting to recess the trampoline. So up the hill we headed with the tractor and the riding mower to start hauling dirt. Another whole day later - digging and hauling in the rain and we almost have a hole deep enough for the trampoline but we are no where close to filling in the yard with enough dirt. So our "simple" project turned into a big one. It seems that is almost always the case. What we thought we could do over a weekend will probably take four. And I have a mutilated finger, loads of muddy laundry and a very dirty "tracked in" house to show for it.

I Love To See The Temple

2010-05-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

My friend Judy at the Gila Valley Temple open house

On Saturday I got a call from my girlfriend Judy, she asked if I wanted to go to the Temple open house in Arizona. First, I didn't even know there was a Temple open house in Arizona. I swear Judy will be a better "Mormon" than me someday. Second, this very practical friend of mine was proposing we do something so ridiculously crazy that only a college student would attempt it, or maybe a band groupie. Neither of which fit our current places in life. She wanted to fly down Tuesday morning and come back home the next day. It would be a whirlwind adventure in search of spiritual confirmation, and epic adventure of self discovery and for me a one night bonus to see my family.

Judy has been investigating the church for a year and 1/2. At first I worried about outing her on this blog post, but then I figure Judy that none of your friends check my blog and all of my friends know you are still "looking into" it. So you are no longer a closet investigator :-) I have had the privilege to sit through missionary discussions, have her company at church and laugh together with our two families at a few church activities. Her daughter Kaitlyn is Emily's best friend. Long ago I knew I wanted to share the gospel with her, but there was always that fear of putting distance between a growing friendship. It wasn't until a year and 1/2 ago when Judy was pining away on her bed during a long recovery from surgery that brought her to a place of curiosity. After some reading and several hours of BYU TV I got a call from her one day saying, "when are you going to tell me about your church?" I was over there that evening.

Now here we are headed down to see the Temple. Without a passport to go to the Vancouver Temple which was only a few hours away the only other option that was available and would be available until 2012 was the Arizona Temple.

It felt good to do something spontaneous with a girl friend. And it felt great to be with her in the Temple. There was some discussion about the Temple in my ward's Relief Society a while back. A young mom shared her frustration with not feeling what she expected and wanted to feel during her trips to the Temple. I thought for a while and realized I had similar feelings. It wasn't until this last trip and the pondering about it afterwards that I came to an important realization. I wanted my Temple visits to be grand. I wanted to hear the Voice of the Lord. I wanted my experiences to be awe inducing. But instead, like my visit to the open house, my visits are usually quiet, uneventful and just simply peaceful. I am thinking about that as I write this blog post and I have had a cathartic moment. My expectations are like the Jews from long ago. They expect the coming of the Messiah. They knew the importance of his coming and the role he would play. Just like I have grown up with some knowledge about the Temple and it's place and significance in my religious worship. But the Jews expect Christ to come in grandeur. They were waiting for shock and awe, so that none could doubt. They wanted something that the Lord was not. He came quietly as a baby born in a stable. He was a Carpenters' son. He taught peacefully through stories and analogies. Nothing about Christ was GRAND. He was the Son of God and yet the Jews overlooked him in search for someone bigger and better and larger than life. That is exactly what I have done with the Temple all these years. I expected something grandiose, and I was so caught up looking for it that I haven't ever really felt what the Temple is all about. I was always looking for a huge sign and ignoring the quiet assurance.

It wasn't until I was walking with Judy through the halls of this new Temple that I allowed myself to feel and understand what the Temple was and the way it made me feel. It was home. A safe place were I felt like "Somebody", a daughter of a king. I have a Savior who waits patiently for me to grow up and overcome. And that peace that I feel in the walls of their house...I don't feel ANYWHERE else.

So Judy, thank you! Thank you for taking me on a journey. Thank you for helping me to find myself again. Thank you for being a great friend and example. Thank you for a whirlwind, spontaneous and totally fun trip of discovery.

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I Still Don't Have A Clue

2010-05-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have been married for almost 14 years now. That is a long time to be keeping house. You would think by now I would be a housewife extraordinaire! But life keeps teaching me lessons. There is NO way my ego will become over inflated after this latest discovery; which in case you aren't following my stream of consciousness writing here...means I did something really stupid and it sent a super clear signal that I stink at my chosen profession.

For the last couple of week we have been trying to solve a mystery in our house. Why do our dishes have a funny odor and slightly perfumed taste to them coming out of the dishwasher? Let me tell you, it can totally ruin your eating experience when you plate smells funny. Even though the smell was a pleasant smell it was just SO wrong on our dinner ware.

I solved the mystery yesterday. We have always used cascade in our dish washer. But in my efforts to cut down the grocery budget to a bare minimum (so I can have more spending money...is it shameful to starve your children so you can buy a shirt form Anthropologie?) I have been buying things on sale instead of keeping to my usual "brand loyalist" shopping methods.

So one fine day of shopping at Walmart (I really miss you Safeway) I noticed that Tide detergent was on sale. So instead of Cascade I put the new and significantly cheaper detergent in my cart.

In retrospect I think, how could I have made such a bonehead mistake. While there is no excuse for plain insanity, the packaging is very similar (false advertising!) and the tide pouches were on the shelf right next to the Cascade pouches. So I assumed they were the same type of product. It is always someone else's fault (a valuable lesson I learned in Kindergarten).

Eventually we concluded that it was the new Tide packets that were making our dishes smell so funny. So yesterday when I went back to the store...dish detergent had finally been all used up (wouldn't want to waste and throw it away - even though we hate it - this is the new cheap me) and had made it back on my grocery list, I made an oath that no mater how much more expensive Cascade was I was running back to it with open arms and teary eyes.

I rounded the corner of the aisle, thoughts of happier dish days in my head, and I had an epiphany. It wasn't Tide's fault we had been eating off of smelly dishes - it was mine. There in front of me were the same Tide packets I had bought a month before. This time however I read the fine print.

STAIN RELEASE

IN-WASH BOOSTER

Does that mean...LAUNDRY kind of wash????!!!!! I was pretty much horrified to realize we had been washing our dishes in LAUNDRY detergent. I still hold to this one small scrap of justification - it is not very clear that it is laundry detergent instead of dish detergent. Who knows? Maybe Tide doesn't even make dish detergent and all you super Moms out there would have known that.

But as for me and my house we live on the precarious line of thinking we know what we're doing and messing up all the time.

In order to avoid all future mistakes at least in this department:

I WILL ALWAYS BUY CASCADE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!!!

---Watch Cascade start marketing laundry detergent and silly ol' me start washing clothes in laundry soap!

Sisters

2010-05-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes sisters are super sweet...

Why is Motherhood So Glorified?

2010-05-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Rebecca just emailed me a link to this most hilarious blog. It was sooooo my life. I laughed so hard. I must admit it is nice to feel like others share in my misery. I know it is totaly awful to hope that others are as miserable as you are. But when it all comes down to "real life" it is totally comforting to know you aren't the one with rottenest kids.

I look at some Mom's and families I admire and wonder why I can't achieve the blissful happiness they have in my home. Then I try to get their perfect little children to rat them out. No seriously I asked one of our favorite DuPont babysitters once if she and her sisters ever fought. I had an insane need at that moment to know that her family wasn't perfect. Is it so horrible to hope that other peoples kids are total hellions too?

As I was reading this truly clever woman's blog and thinking to myself that I totally could have it worse...I could have her kids...Emily starts screaming outside. I go to preform the obligatory investigation. Chase and Kate are throwing Sara's poopy diapers off the balcony at her as she is trying to take out the trash. In an instant all hopes that my children were not the worst behaved hellions on earth went out the window.

So as your life happens to you...and you entertain the thought that your own kids must be the worst hooligans around you know that there is me with my out-of-control brood and this poor lady.

Enjoy her blog - it is sooooo worth the time you will invest!

Still Need A Name

2010-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

OK everyone...

Let's have a poll...

What do you prefer for a name for my new photography studio?

Babies Don't Keep - Maternity and Newborn Photography

Fresh In The Nest - Maternity and Newborn Photography

Any better ideas????

I like them both. Babies don't keep is unique, there isn't anyone else out there with a similar name. But Fresh in the nest is really descriptive and as far as decorating, packaging and just plain who I am it is a better match. Both have good logo potential I think.

So??????

Special Bedtime Friends

2010-04-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this is me as a baby. Don't you love those 70's colors! I am just turning one. My very first birthday. And my Grandma gave me a present that stayed with me until I got married. That furry pink monstrosity is Bow Wow. He was my Velveteen rabbit. He now sleeps in a box up in my Mom's attic, but he used to sleep with me every single night in my bed. He warded off nightmares (or at least put up a valiant effort). He made me feel loved, even through those tough teenage years where all the world forgets to love you. He is the only thing I know of that survived all my growing up - my only "baby" artifact. He is special. Girls love there "special" things. And so do my girls!

We emptied out Sara's crib for this little exercise. Let me remind you, she doesn't sleep in a normal spacey crib. We have her in a port-a-crib. So the space is limited and she takes most of it up herself. But she finds enough room somehow for all of the rest of this stuff. She usually has even more books in there. How can she sleep. Many of these things have to be in her crib. As we carry her to bed she will point to this or that toy or treasure that absolutely must spend the night with her. All four blankets must be ceremoniously draped over her at bedtime. Blue, the baby she is holding, is a MUST. And Sophie, the oldest of her babies who never seems to have clothes on - this picture is no exception, is almost always there too. These are Sara's special things. She is too little to have refined them down to her very favorites. For now she has to have it all and somehow gets a good night's sleep.

Katie has a few go-to cats. Meow, the black and white cat, was the first. She got it for her 2nd Christmas from her Aunt Meghan. She loved him immediately. I am still surprised his tail is still attached and he hasn't needed any TLC. Brownish, Meow's brother with the stripes, came a few years ago. She was so excited to see him in the store because he, "WAS MEOW'S BROTHER!" And that was a big deal. This year for Christmas she got baby Brownish in her stocking. Santa is so clever! Sugar is the grey cat on her lap. She is the most important. The vital friend in the bedtime routine. Kate absolutely can not go to sleep without her. She too was a Christmas present from Santa. Teresa is a doll I made for her last year. It has made me so happy that Kate loves her so much. Usually all of these treasured toys are in her bed at all times. Poor thing swears that she will have nightmares without Sugar!

Emily has never been one to sleep with a bunch of comfort friends. It has always just been Coco, her beloved brown bunny that is definitely worse for wear. She got him from her Grandma DeWitt for her very first Easter. Coco has been through a few restorative surgeries. And no amount of washing can make him look any snappier. He is permanently nappy. Coco still travels with her. She write stories about him too. She has adopted the two dolls this last year. Lisa, the one with blond hair is the doll I made for her. She made the other doll, Mary with her achievement day class through the church. Many years ago Emily was jealous of Chase's baby blanket which a friend of Grandma Wilcox had made for him. She wanted her own "special" blanket. So I made her one. Actually three special people were involved. I put together the blanket. Then it was mailed to her best friend Eliza's mom who embroidered her name on it. Then it was mailed off to Grandma DeWitt who sewed on the binding. I thinks it makes it extra special since so many loving hands were part of its creation. Now a days in addition to Coco and the blanket which are still in bed with her, there is always a book. She wanted to have me photograph the Peter and the Starcatchers series because it is her favorite. When I go up to tuck her in one last time before going to bed myself she frequently has a book over her face. She fell asleep reading and there it stayed (so uncomfortable).

These are my girls treasures. I can't wait to watch them grow older and see which treasured friends continue to be a part of their lives. Will Blue, Sugar and Coco stand the test of time. Will they finally be packed away when they head off to college? Will they make it all the way until marriage when my sweet girls find someone better to comfort them at night? Will they remember them fondly when they are 33?

Bahamas...Oh Bahamas, We Will Never Forget You

2010-04-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

We will never forget you that's for sure. There's no denying we loved your simplicity and laid back nature. Your beaches were lovely and the weather was warmer...BUT we would have really liked to avoid:

-Having our wallet stolen and losing our travel cash
-Having only one, single, solitary sunny day
-Getting super sea sick
-Issues with Scuba companies
-Snorkeling all over the place looking for signs of life
-Way too much time at the airport

And last but not least oh dear Bahamas...we really could have done better without...(you must read further - AHHH HAAA HAAAA - that's my evil nature, I'm going to make you endure the suspense laugh)

First of all, why do people take vacations. Sometimes they seem like so much more work and stress than just staying at home and experiencing day to day life. I might expect to be stressed if I traveled like some people (I'm calling you out Mom ;-). Always something to do, some place to see. I swear my parents had our family vacations planned down to the minute with the exception of two vacations. Thank goodness for Yosemite and the Italian Alps. But Dave and I are pretty easy going. We rarely schedule anything. We go with a place to stay a list of things we could do and then we go from there. Just a nice spontaneous, relaxing vacation. But I got home from this vacation feeling like I needed a vacation from my vacation!

In spite of our plans to make this short little get away a breath of fresh warm air, we had a rough time. Who wants to come home from vacation and say they endured to the end and tried to find some good in it all?

Trouble started the minute (almost) that Dave's sister Sallie dropped us off at the airport. We were standing there trying to scan our boarding bar code looking like total dummies. First we tried the print out with the little bar code in it. Then we tried the confirmation number, next the passports then the credit cards...you catch the drift. TROUBLE. Finally Dave realized that we were trying to check in at the Delta kiosk instead of Jet Blue. After all that aggravation we weren't thinking all that clearly and didn't notice Dave's wallet sitting right there on the stand. (unfortunately we were oh-so-cool and used our passports for all the security checks and what not) It wasn't until we were boarding the plane and I asked Dave for two bucks to buy headsets that we noticed the wallet was missing. When I think about what might have been:

Us stuck in the Bahamas with no cash, credit cards, debit cards, bank....

Well we got the wallet back. Some wonderful good Samaritan had returned it. After he kindly removed all of our travel money! We didn't really need it, for sure it wouldn't be missed (sarcasm). What is that? A half way honest person. An, "I'm going to do half a good deed" kind of guy? So we got back the plastic but no cash! Then I endured a grumpy Dave on the long flight to better days.

We got to the Bahamas and a 30 minute taxi ride later we are at the Scuba shop signing in for Dave's dive. No way I'm swimming with sharks. Thank goodness I'm not certified. Dave really likes to experience cool things WITH people. You know, so you can reminisce together. Unfortunately for me he really wanted to experience this not-so-cool but super terrifying event in his life with someone too. Thank you rules and regulations. (I am having so much fun being sarcastic that the crazy trip seems more worth it now) So our rotten luck continued. Even though I have our confirmation print out in my hand, saying he is registered and payed to go. The good people there have no records showing Dave even exists. For who knows what reason they argue about this for several minutes (probably because they don't think they've been paid - we ended up paying again and will wait to see what the credit card statement shows) After they finally agree to write Dave in - how hard was that? They start to take issue with the fact that Dave hasn't been on a recent dive. Well -- I didn't have anymore patience. I know I am never great at these customer service head to heads. Even though I have a serious mean streak I am incapable of using it even in its smallest, "I'm just really going to get my way", form. So I point out to them that not only is this requirement to have a recent dive nowhere on their page's long list of rules when booking your dive that you must read and acknowledge, but that we called twice to make sure everything was good and ready. There was no way that Dave wasn't getting on that boat. Not when we came to this island only to do that and there was nothing else to do except big touristy stuff that we both hate! So we argue. For another 15 minutes. They are holding up the boat for us. I am totally flustered. At long last we get her to call her manager who agrees to let Dave go as long as he signs the liability waiver (that he is going to have to sign anyway). Why do people make things so complicated???

So off we go. I already know at this point that my leisurely boat ride in the sun was a bust. It is overcast and threatening to rain to say nothing of the wind. The poor boat is pitching and rolling and Dave, who gets sea sick, has just eaten a nice big lunch. Recipe for disaster. He got sick, really sick. The kind of sick where you loose all the color that a poor pasty Washington resident has mustered over the years. His eyes told it all. He went from being really excited to looking like this after his first of the two dives. In our 14 years together Dave has never thrown up. He would rather die I think...he came really close that afternoon.He was really excited about all the shraks he saw. There were dozens of them. He got brushed and bumped several times. And the poor guy feeding the sharks actually got bit!

In the end it was all good. He got off the boat and nearly collapsed on the dock. He lay there trying to recover as I looked at the pictures from his dive. Never have I been more grateful to not be scuba certified. I was terrified just looking at the pictures of Dave. He looks pretty terrified too. So even though there was no sun, and his stomach was doing the mambo I think he had a pretty good time.

The next day we headed to the hardly populated island of Eluthera. We rented a perfect little bungalow right on the beach.

That's it in the distance there nestled in the palm trees!

I was so excited! Best of all the sun was shining. It was a wonderful 80 degrees. We were on an island all to ourselves - or so it seemed. And I swear the people of Eluthera are the friendliest people I have ever met. There was the man that rented us our car without having us pay. (Apparently they are on a cash only system on the island and well...we were a little short on cash) He didn't want to strip us of the little cash we had. So he sent us on our way with a promise to pay him when we returned the car after visiting an ATM. Then there was the lady at the local grocery who let us return our milk after we had stoped by earlier to pick up some necessities for our bungalow and then driven 30 minutes to the bungalow only to realize too late that we couldn't check in until 4:00. It was 9:00. So back to the grocer we went with the strange request to put our milk back in the fridge. When we returned at 10:00 way after the shop closed we had no hopes of milk for our breakfast cereal. But there she was inside cleaning. She came to the door, let Dave in and we had milk. The lady we rented our snorkel gear from even came to work an hour early on the day we flew out so we could return our stuff and get our deposit back! Everyone waved, no one was pushy for tips, and it was really wonderful. We enjoyed a beautiful beach, some not-so-great snorkeling (we saw a conch- and that as about it) and then ate delicious food at a resort restaurant all by ourselves wishing we could see the sunset behind all those grey clouds that had rolled in.

That evening I took a bath (I miss baths! We haven't had a tub in our master bedroom ever.) It was second only to a hot tub which I wished they had but didn't. We opened all the sliding doors and fell asleep to the lulling sound of crashing waves right outside our door.

I set the alarm to awake with the sunrise. As I walked over to the window I knew we were not going to have a repeat of the day before. The sunrise was hidden behind a dense bank of clouds and it was raining. Sigh...what were we going to do all day stuck in our little house? We slept in, leisurely ate our cereal under the protection of the porch and then when the rain slowed to a drizzle we went for a walk on the beach. There was no waiting the weather out so we decided to make the most of it and off we went to visit the rest of the beaches on our list in hopes of better snorkeling than the day before. We were enamored with the pink sand beaches. At the end of the vacation it would all be worth it. It would be a really expensive (even though it was supposed to be quite affordable) trip to the Bahamas to collect pink sand for my sand collection. The snorkeling never did wow us. I can't believe how sterile the ocean was. Hardly a hint of life. We found a this nice sea star and others like them, some sand dollars a very few fish and this sting ray. It wasn't that bad, snorkenling in the rain. We were all wet anyway.

Then night came...and it was long and horrible. Here it is...THE NUMBER ONE THING WE COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT!

BED BUGS!!!!!!!!!

We tossed and turned all night. Then awoke to feeling like our skin was on fire. No amount of itching brought relief. I counted the bites on just one arm - 50! And it was equally bad everywhere else. I had a bite on my eye lid, bites on my ears, little buggies had crawled on my face and bitten me here and there. Every knuckle of my fingers. I had bites on top of bites. Even Dave who is pretty resistant to bug bite itchiness (is that a word?) was itching. I was writhing. I would endure one plane flight of trying to sit still and not look like a total freak only to disembark, run for the bathroom, strip and scratch until my whole body was red enough to looked sunburned only to get back on another plane. Once we got to the states the first order of business was to find an airport shop that carried Benadryl. I don't know if I have ever been more thankful for modern medicine. Once we got home we threw everything in the wash. If I could have boiled all of our stuff I would have. I was so grossed out. Then the paranoia set in as I read about the obnoxious critters on the Internet. Had I brought this vermin into my own bug free home? We didn't sleep on our own bed for three nights. Every morning I woke up freaking out as I tried to determine if a particular bite was new or just suddenly itchy. There were just so many bites it was hard to tell if one might be new. I am going to have permanent memories of our little Bahama trip. Many little scars from compulsive itching. I have just now relaxed. We are pretty certain we haven't brought any critters into our home, the bites are just now stopping to drive me crazy and soon my face will look more normal (I didn't go to church on Sunday - the bites were the real reason - but I was grateful for Sara's runny nose to give me cover)

So all in all it was great to get away from the kids. Even better to have some good one-on-one time with Dave. I am supper excited to add some new sand to our collection. The kids had a vacation of their own with Grandma and Aunt Sallie who were awesome to them. And as evidenced by this beautiful welcome home sign they made us, were actually happy to see us again. And I have just laughed through a very lengthy documentation about a trip that went awry and packed a punch but was all worth it in the end.

A New Calling - Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

2010-04-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

I was blog hopping this morning. There are a million better things for me to be doing, but I am addicted to my computer. If I'm being honest, the Internet and I are involved in a sordid love affair - don't tell Dave. I have this new collection of blogs that I like to visit. They all deal with photography in one way or another. And I came across a video clip that had me bawling buckets of tears yet made me feel uplifted. Go figure right. It's because it spoke to me, like I have been looking for something all along and now I've found it.

Some back ground. I think most people know that I LOVE children. Sometimes it is easier to love others people children...but I truly have a deep love for little people. In general the littler they are the easier it is for me to fall head over heels. Every talent I have I feel relates to kiddos. I love teaching, I love playing, I love being silly (my kids will be shocked - don't tell them please). I went into teaching because I was a natural, I loved it and admittedly I knew that for me it would be easy (compared to nursing - that was my second choice). Every job I have ever had that I loved was about children. My favorite was Sunshine preschool. I LOVED that job. I still remember those kids names! My favorite place to serve in the Church is in the Primary. I am languishing in Relief Society (women) right now. And most of all I really, really LOVE being a Mom and the great blessing I have to stay at home with my four children. But in addition to all of that I have always felt this yearning to give back and serve. To share my talents, and love children that need it most. I have always thought some day that I would like to volunteer at a children's cancer center. Just doing everyday things like reading books, doing puppet shows, playing with play dough...just trying to uplift children who are having to deal with adult things while still in their childhood. I may still do that someday when my children are grown. But this new wonderful way to serve I could easily do NOW! (maybe I could volunteer now too...) and it goes hand in hand with my efforts to develop my photography talent.

SO WHAT IS IT?????

It is an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I had never heard about them before. They are an organization of photographers and support people (assistants, editors etc...) that photograph babies with their last moments with their new families. It makes my heart ache to think that society sometimes tells parents to get over it and move on. Sometimes it seems like parents are encouraged to keep as little evidence as possible of that little life to "help" their own emotional healing. I know I don't speak from experience, but hypothetically speaking, I would want to be able to celebrate the life of my baby. It would be painful, but I would be grateful for that little slice of time to bond with my child. This organization helps parents get in touch with photographers to do just that. They come to the hospital to take photos of the family with their little one. I couldn't find information about fees...but I hope it is a free service. If not I will do it on my own without being a volunteer of NILMDTS.

I went straight away tho their website after watching the video on the blog I was on. It turns out there is some serious qualification stuff to deal with. First I have to get my website up and running. Then I apply and a board looks at my work to decide if I am good enough! I love it. They are sending real professional photographers to these aching families. I WANT TO BE PART OF THAT!

For My Friend Mary - We Are Still Alive

2010-04-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

A Sneak Peak

2010-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Kate's First Story

2010-04-13T12:21:00.001-07:00

In the dark, dark woods there was a flower and the flower had sunlight. But there was a dragon. And the dragon liked to eat flowers. The flower liked sun and the dragon liked dark. It was sunny so the dragon died. The flower was alive. The end.

Katie 4/13/2010 Age 5

This Last Weekend

2010-04-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer:
If you are in anyway hungry for a little baby to warm your arms and heart. Do not scroll down this blog! In the past week I have gotten to hold and love two of the most handsome little boys ever! Little Baby S here was a mover and a shaker for sure. I turned to his Mom at one point and said, "did he wiggle like this in the womb?" He did not want to sleep...he wanted to go places!

One of the things I am really loving about having my own boutique photography studio for newborn photography is that I get to be with babies. I have to face it. My feisty two year is definitely no longer a baby. And I am pretty sure (there is a little wiggle room there) that I don't really want another. But babies just like kittens and puppies are irresistible. Now I don't have to miss the way they smell, there cottony soft skin and just being around there sweet innocence. I hope my clients don't mind that I fall in love with their little ones when they come to see me.

I have to enlist Dave's help in choosing the best, because I love so many. But here is Baby S, one handsome little man in the making!

Busy With Beautiful Babies

2010-04-12T20:11:00.001-07:00

Well...this is what I've been up too. In the middle of company, holidays, school projects and all that fun stuff like laundry and shopping I've been snapping away! My wonderful girlfriend Sara Wilhelm let me mentor her during this shoot with one of her friends. Other than being super frustrated with my lens a couple of times I was happy with the experience. Little baby C is going to be one little handsome fellow. Have you ever seen eyebrows so perfect on a baby before?

It's Called A Banana Split

2010-04-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Chase loves when Grandpa comes to visit. Inevitably there is always wrestling. And all though Chase is pretty scrappy, he still isn't strong enough to take Grandpa down. Grandpa got Chase in this invincible hold. We had lots of fun laughing. According to wrestler Dave (his previous life) it's called a banana split and always leads to a pin. I wonder how many more years until Chase is king of the wrestle tournaments.

Rain or Shine It's Tulip Time

2010-04-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

I knew my Mom would love the Tulip festival. She is a budding photog herself. And there just isn't a prettier canvas than the Skagit county. We had sat through several rainy days already since she came to stay. We were all restless. So we decided rain or shine we would drive up and pray for better weather as we drove.

It did end up being a beautiful day. I was a truly horrible mother though. I loaded the kids up with movies, donuts, chocolate milk and pop tarts and made them wait in the while my Mom and I photographed the tulip fields. I let them out at Rosengarde Gardens to stretch their legs and regretted it mostly. I had just set loose four children with lots of pent up energy and a well manicured garden. Rosengarde I am sorry!

We finished off the day trying to make it up to the kids on Whidby island. You know shakes at Jack-in-the-box, and hour or so at the beach, spitting off the bridge at Deception Pass (no I don't condone the spitting...they do it anyway - I figured it's better than rocks).

This is one of my favorite pictures. I photographed him last year too. I actually asked him this year instead of just trying to get a picture as he walked by. I totally embarrased him. All the women in the field were laughing so hard. I think he is handsome...and he just happens to ALWAYS be the the one holding the cut flowers!

Really...

2010-04-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here staring at a prescription for anti-depressant meds and thinking really, do I really have to take a drug to be happy? My wonderful husband, beautiful and mostly sweet children, a gorgeous house, my dream yard and lots of great opportunities...why don't they make me happy?

I have had this stupid prescription for a month. It sits there in my purse - a cruel reality check every time I go shopping (which is frequently...trying to be happy) that I am broken some how.

I have written and then deleted who knows how many posts about this cloud that hangs over my head constantly. Is it something that I should share. I go back and forth. I think, well, it is my journal - I need to write about it. And then I delete it because does the world need to know about it? Then I write it again, why should I be ashamed to let my friends and family know. And then I delete it again, because I don't want anybody to know.

I just want to cry all the time. Cry because I'm not happy. Cry for being unhappy when I should be happy. Cry because I might start taking a drug to make me "Fake" happy. Thinking about how much of a better mother I could have been makes me cry. Then there are the times when I thought my marriage was falling apart - where those real or exaggerated misperceptions caused by my brains inability to produce happy juice. And more crying because with all of my blessing I want to just stay in bed all day and sleep it all away. What a waste. My life is a waste.

I went to the doctor thinking I had thyroid problems and I came back knowing I had psychological problems. After that, I started thinking and remembering all the times I have brushed shoulders with knowing and turned around and ran. Way back in middle school, my teacher had me visit the school psychologist. I guess my poetry was too depressing. Several years back there was a trip to a counselor who instead of helping with the issues at hand couldn't get past her desire to focus on her belief that I was depressed. We never went back...I was so insulted. How dare she, she didn't know me at all. Then two years ago, a visit to the doc, she told me she thought I was depressed (I went in for my annual exam of all things). I laughed it off in a nervous chuckle of denial. I even talked with a friend about it in the park who did make me feel like depression wasn't leprosy...but still it wasn't me. Years passed and now here it is again. This time more concrete. Lots of tests were run and all I have to show for it is phantom unhappiness and a prescription for welbutran.

But I am outgoing. I love to have a good time. Can assertive party addicts be depressed?

Do I want to fill the prescription? If I do will I be on meds for the rest of my life? Will I be happy...knowing I am faking it, not just with my fabulous acting skills anymore, but chemically.

Anyway this time I am going to publish this dumb post. I think my children should know someday when they are reading this back that I wanted to be a better person. But I am broken. And for right now I am too scared to do anything about it.

PLEASE DON'T LEAVE A COMMENT. PLEASE HONOR THAT. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT TO HEAR A WORD ABOUT IT. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ATTEMPTS TO CHEER ME UP. I HAVE THE DUMB DRUGS AFTER ALL IF I EVER DECIDE TO USE THEM.

Golden Egg Drama - Swiper Strikes

2010-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

This was the scene that laid out before us as we waited for the kids to find the Golden Egg (very special egg with $5.00 in it). We have been hiding a golden egg for the kids every Easter for the last 8 or so years. The kids love it. And they hunt like wild animals for it.

This year we bought the kids a play structure. We didn't have time enough or good enough weather to assemble it before our Easter hunt. So I thought a great place to hide this years golden egg would be under the tarp hiding the play structure boxes. We left the slide on top of the tarp to draw the kids curiosity. Can you believe that those crazy kids were so focused on finding the egg that they never even thought to look under the tarp. They walked all around it for several minutes. Even touched the slide and never said a word...

Finally as the rain started to come down we hinted that maybe they should check over by the tarp. Chase sped over and lifted it up but didn't notice the egg. Kate who was a few feet away saw it and ran right over to it. Poor Chase realized his blunder and did an amazing, body sacrificing, award worthy swan dive in towards the site trying to swipe it away at the last minute.

I love the look on Katie's face. She had just been robbed. The look of, "did you see what just happened to me" is priceless.

Of course Chase had to relinquish his stolen treasure. What a stinker he is.

The Easter Bunny

2010-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

What do you do with four active kids home for Spring Break on a VERY rainy Easter?

You borrow bunnies and do a photo shoot!

And then you listen to four very persistent children beg for bunnies for the next few hours...or days...

Sledding at Paradise

2010-03-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I Wish You Could See My Smile

2010-03-22T22:45:00.001-07:00

So I just did something I have been yearning to do for years now! I got back from a friends house a few minutes ago after delivering my first portraits! One of my new girl friends had a baby this last weekend and on Saturday I went over to do my very first newborn shoot. It was sooooo much harder than I thought it would be. And I learned some tough lessons. But after six hours today (that's crazy I know, but they were my FIRST pictures) I got them all edited just the way I wanted them.

My friend was so gracious. I hope she liked them as much as I liked giving them to her!!! It is funny this feeling. I feel like I just swam in an Olympic event and got a gold medal! It has been so much work. And I have struggled with a ton of self doubt. But now this cheesy grin on my face says it all. I did something I have wanted to do for a long time and I am proud! Hope you enjoy the pictures of Beautiful Baby "B"!

A Smarty Pants

2010-03-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Chase got some great news in the mail today. He was accepted into the P.A.G.E. program at Kalles Junior High. P.A.G.E stands for Puyallup accelerated gifted education. Puyallup pulls all of its advanced learners from all of its schools and clusters them all in one school to focus on offering them an accelerated education. Chase took a six hour test a few weeks ago in order to apply for admittance. It was grueling. They administered verbal, spacial, and then regular kinds of tests (math, vocab, reading comprehension etc..). He also had to produce a writing sample. I couldn't believe how intense it was. Six hours was longer than I spent taking my ACT exam to gain college entrance! I still remember peeking at him through the window while he was working on his writing sample and seeing him sitting there with a dictionary checking all of his spelling (his kryptonite).

This was all Chase's idea. Depending on the day I feel differently about it. He will not be going with any of his friends and classmates onto Ferrucci Middle school. But then on the other hand what an amazing opportunity to go to a school where all of your peers are on a similar page and teachers are focused on pushing you to be the best you can be. So we will leave the decision up to Chase. But I am pretty sure, judging by how excited and persistent he has been thus far, that he will choose to attend Kalles.

I hope the school is strong in other areas other than just academics. I hope it has a strong student leadership program. I also hope that they offer good extra curricular programs. We will see.

But we sure are proud of our son. He is a real go getter this one! And ever since our last trip to see Great Grandpa up in Provo and having Papo talk to the kids about what a great school BYU is and how difficult it is to get admitted, Chase has had a mission. So...only time will tell. Do you think when he is 21 that he will still want to stay with his Great Grandpa while attending college?????

Running Faster Than I Should...

2010-03-18T09:09:00.001-07:00

My mind will not slow down. Every moment of every day I am thinking about something. I have so many ideas swimming around in my pour little head. It's amazing I can focus on one of them for any length of time. At night I lay in bed thinking about how to go about achieving each and ever desire (I say that instead of goal because most of them are, well...related to money). Then in the morning I start planning out the day.

I think for most people persistence is a virtue. But for me I think it is more of a vice. It is the absence of patience in my case. I have all these things I want and I have to find a way to get them now. I think that if I were ever in a survival situation I would definitely be OK!

So here is a peek at my mind on fire...

* A Japanese garden

I have always loved Japanese gardens. I love that peaceful feeling you have while walking through such gardens. We have the perfect spot right outside our master bedroom for a beautiful private garden. So along those lines I have been collecting plants. You should see my plans. I have spent hours on the Internet reading about plants, their growth potential (space is limited), their attractiveness in each season, light requirements and lots of other little facts. I have plotted out a designs, placed my wish list of plants and have started collecting the big ones. So far I have two Japanese maples and a large Rhodie. Next and last large plant on the list - a single trunk royal magnolia. We have done tons of research on putting in a koi pond too. I am so excited for this project. I think it is the house related project I want done the most. Here is a story board of the plants I have chosen.

* Photography Business

I lose sleep over this one. Not because I want it to happen so badly. I do, but mostly I am so stinking nervous about it. I am starting my own personal studio AND going into business with two friends to do school portraits. I am reading every book I can get my hands on. Hours of my day are spent pouring over blogs, websites and tutorials on the Internet. My collection of props continues to expand. I have a story board created for how I want to put my studio together furnishing wise. But instead of buying one piece of the puzzle at a time - over time. I want to buy it all NOW! I want it to be done. I want to start practicing with the lighting setup I have wish listed. I am still so stuck on a name for my studio to be. So all day long I roll names around in my head. All day long...

There are so many other things. Remodeling the kitchen, putting in some grass for a yard, creating a kids play area on the property and so much more. Dave had me make a list the other day so I could focus better. In five minutes I had two whole columns on a sheet of paper.

I can't remember a time in my life where I have ever had the "I Wants" so bad!

Begining Photography 101 Final

2010-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

For our final in my photo class we went to Tacoma to do an urban shoot. It was a beautiful day. My only complaint was that there were no people. Literally - hardly a soul. Where were all the people to photograph on such a beautiful day? So I was stuck with buildings and pretty as they are...my favorite subjects are the living kind.

The vertical format pictures didn't work well in the slide show so I posted them seperatly.

Slideshow design customized with Smilebox

Going Into Business

2010-03-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

I have totally lost my mind. I have been considering for many years starting my own Photography business. There was always something to hold me back.

*I didn't have a good enough camera - I do now.

*I didn't have great portraiture lenses - I do now.

*I didn't have room for a studio - I'm going to soon (I'm converting my sun room...talk about amazing natural light).

*I didn't have great editing software - now I do and I am getting better all the time at using it.

*I didn't have a clear vision - I have decided that for now I just want to shoot newborns.

*I didn't feel like I had a special edge to bring to the table - I finally recognized that my photography talents might not be cutting edge but they are really good, but what I do have is an unusual ability to connect with kids. That talent is huge I have come to realize.

*I just plain didn't have the confidence - I almost there...

So I am on my way. We are converting our sun room into a guest bedroom / photo studio. It is going to be awesome. Pier one has some really amazing chairs right now. I am dying for one, but can't make up my mind. A few beautiful throw pillows for the futon, a nice table and some wall art and I will be in business.

Of course I still have to buy lighting, and design a Blog and Website!

I have been collecting props for a few months now. I have some great stuff. I am so excited.

I have already begun developing ideas for packaging and my business model but what I really need to start things off is a NAME for my business and a LOGO. I would love to incorporate a beautiful modern silhouette of a stork with my logo. But I am totally stumped on my name. I want to incorporate my name (for familiarity and recognition). But then I want something clever and cool that fits with my plan for newborn photography. Maybe:

Jennifer's Miracles - super cheesy

Tiny Toes Photography - missing my name

Sweet Pea Photography -cute graphic potential

Special Deliveries Photography - kind of a mouth full

Tiny Treasures Photography - ????

I have a favorite Baby poem - My Grandmother loved it and shared it with me when I had my first baby. But I can't find a way to use it. Do you know this poem:

Babies Don't Keep

Mother, of Mother

come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan,

poison the moth,

hang out the ashing,

and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the Mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery blissfully rocking.

Oh I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo)

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek-a-boo).

The shopping's not done

and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo,

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo)

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up,

as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby

and babies don't keep.

-Author Unknown

I like the message that poem sends because the whole idea of Newborn photography is to capture those precious moments that are oh so fleeting.

So any ideas....

Please, please share!!!!

Memory Lane...

2010-03-01T18:53:00.001-08:00

In an effort to save on our monthly finances I have begun teaching Chase and Emily piano. I don't know how long I will be able to teach them before they exceed my own talent ability. But for now we are plugging along. This last week we went on a field trip to look for new music to learn. I stumbled across these books way under a pile of old stuff. I bought level 1-5. I was so excited. These were the books I learned from (at least with one of my many teachers). I was so excited to get home and conduct a closer inspection. For a good part of the night I sat at the piano playing old songs. I remember tracing some of the pictures in the books. Several of the songs were personal favorites. It was so fun to remember and share those memories with the kids. Dave probably thinks I am insane for being so excited. But it was a fabulous find!

Dementia

2010-02-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

OK, sigh, I just finished watching "The Notebook". I have been meaning to watch it for years and finally did this afternoon while the kids were at school. I have been bawling my eyes out. I had to shower to settle down enough to get through the rest of the day and now my eyes are stinging up a storm. I don't think I have cried so hard from a movie (they're supposed to be entertainment - which in my book means makes one happy) while not pregnant. Titanic and Mrs. Potter both got me pretty good too but I was a pregnant hormonal mess.

Warning!!!!! Movie Spoilers!!!!

So back to "The Notebook". It got to me. I am now officially terrified of aging! It killed me to see the heroine of the movie suffering from dementia. Not knowing her husband, the love of life. Not knowing her children, her life's work. And then there were tears shed for the poor hero. Loosing the mind of his best friend and life long love. How awful it is for families that suffer through this horrible decease! They lose everything. Their life in essence. Every sweet memory they have collected over the years...all gone. I was sobbing gut wrenching choking cries of misery on behalf of this poor movie character who represents so many in the world. His beloved Ally recalls her life for 5 minutes only to forget again and be terrified by the presence of her spouse, yelling, pushing and begging for relief. How much more horrible the real life moments are for those struggling though things like this. I wanted to drive down to Dave's work and run in to tell him how much I loved him and could never live without him.

The poor kids walked in right at that moment. To their poor mother crying hysterically on the couch. Sara and Kate came to cuddle and comfort me. I couldn't compose myself for a while. I kept thinking about what if that were me. What if I am all alone in my older years. No memories of love and life. What if I don't know my spouse, best friend and true love when he is standing right there beside me. What if my children, my treasures and life's work are strangers to me. I can only hope with all my heart and soul that Dementia will not plague my family.

If ever I was to contribute financially to the research and cure of an illness it will be dementia.

Dad And His Daughters

2010-02-24T11:46:00.001-08:00

With much anticipation the day for the Annual Daddy Daughter Dance had finally arrived. This year the theme was The Academy Awards. Our renters didn't have any daughters to send to the dance so I signed Dave and the girls up. We struggled a little more than usual finding a fun dress-up theme to go along with the spirit of the dance. I couldn't find any great fancy modest dresses, so the girls went as 1920's movie fashionistas. I am sad that I didn't think to take pictures of all the fun getting ready for the dance this year. We watched You Tube tutorials on 1920's hair-do's, did the works in the makeup department and had the girls looking like knock-outs in no time. I know everyone thinks their children are beautiful. But I am always astounded by my children's good looks. I never felt pretty myself, so seeing these girls, my offspring, looking so darn gorgeous makes my heart swell a little. So even though there was no light and there wasn't any great place for taking pictures we attempted a little photo shoot. I used an unused science display board for the backdrop and had Chase shine Dave's work room light at the board. One day I am going to have a studio and master "high key" photography! It is so easy to photograph girls that are giddy with excitement. They were full of happiness.

Dave had planned on taking the girls out to dinner before the dance. He went to two restaurants only to be told the wait was like 45 minutes. So after two failed attempts he took them to one of his favorite side of the road hamburger diners. When they got to the dance the organizers had a red carpet all ready for the girls to strut down. Several volunteer Mom's and siblings were lining the sides taking pictures as paparazzi (it reminded me of the birthday I had planned for Emily last year but used for the girls Achievement day award party instead). I snapped some pictures of the girls strutting their stuff. This one of Kate was my favorite. It is typical Kate, full of spunk with a closed-lip smile!I stayed for about 30 minutes taking pictures of Emily and Kate dancing with Dad. Pour Dave said his arms hurt for days afterwards from lifting the girls up in the air for this favorite trick of theirs!

I loved watching them spin and twirl around the dance floor with the fringes from their dresses going every which way. I swear the only time they sat at the table must have been for a quick food break. The twisted and twirled and even practiced some of the moves Dave and I are learning in our classes.

This year Emily's friend Kait and Kate's friend Vivian came with Dave to the party. I think they both spent half of the time dancing with their friends. Emily is getting old enough that she and Kait were more into being goofy at the dance than dancing their hearts out like Kate and Vivian. Of course they met many of their other friends that they have been missing desperately since our move to Puyallup. Partying with Dad coupled with a friend reunion made the night extra magical!

Kate's Perspective:

I felt so pretty and Mom was saying that I looked like a darling. My hair do was so pretty. Mom put the hot curler in my hair, it made me really nervous but when the curls were done I felt really good. When she put the makeup on I was really scared because I thought the makeup would drip in my eyes. The blush felt really soft on my cheeks. I liked that a lot. When I showed everyone I felt really good and pretty and they liked it. Dad gave me a rose, it made me feel really happy and excited that I got to go to the Daddy Daughter dance with it. Dad let me drink a shake in the car. I wish Mom was there to taste the really good french fries. This year I was really excited to pick up my friend Vivian. I liked when Dad swinged me up in the sky. I like to dance with Daddy because I love him and he gave me a rose so I felt good. Vivian and I danced together a lot. We had dinner with each other. My favorite thing they had to eat was a cupcake with red and white flowers on it. It was fun seeing Mom there to visit. We got a whole box of candy. I got to dance with my friends. Oh yeah that's all.

Emily's Perspective:

I had an awesome time at the Daddy Daughter dance! First we had to get ready. That was kind of hard because we had to hold very still for hot curling. Make up is really, really fun. Usually I don't get to put on make up. It was funny because Mom kept accidentally getting mascara goobers on us. I had to wait with the hot curlers in my head. It was really hard to hold my head really still but walk around. My dress and my outfit this year was really cool. It matched my sisters and had little flappy strings on it that went all around when I twirled. It was purple and I really like the color purple sometimes. My mom twirled my hair and stuck a million bazillion bobby pins to curl my hair all up. None of my hair was down. Mom took our pictures of course...duh! It was fun because I got to do my own really crazy poses. It was kind of hard because Chase was shining light in my eyes. Dad gave me a rose. We tried to go out to Red Robin to eat but we couldn't even get in the doors it was sooo crowded. We tried going to Olive Garden across the street next, they said it would be a 30 minute wait. But 30 minutes was all the time we had. So we went to a hamburger stand named McFruggals. I got to have a shake and some really salty french fries. After that we went to go pick up our friends. When we got to the Daddy Daughter dance It was really beautiful. It was all dark except for flashing balloons and the spot lights. There was a live singer so we danced for a while. Then we saw Mom taking pictures of us. My Dad threw me into the air. It was pretty scary, I went so high my feet were at his chest. My favorite memory about the dance was trying to learn how to do one of Dad's ballroom dance moves. It was kind of hard because we kept stepping on each others feet. But it was really funny!I really liked doing the "knot dance" with all of my friends. When you do the knot dance you hold hands in a circle all facing inward and then you try to turn around without letting go of any one's hand until everyone is facing outward. It's almost physically impossible but we did it! We found some free plastic dancing canes and present boxes with scarves in them. We ran around with the scarves on top of the canes and it was really fun. I really love my Dad because he goes to special things like the Daddy Daughter dance with me!

Somebody Has A Crush On ??????

2010-02-23T18:21:00.001-08:00

DISCLAIMER- So in order to protect a certain child from utter humiliation and a life filled with constant ridicule from his/her peers. This post will not mention any names or provide any clues to gender.

One of my children has a secret admirer. I suppose it's not a secret admirer since they left a name on their Valentine gift, but a serious admirer none the less. At school during my child's Valentine party, cards and candy were passed around the room. This mystery person received a box of chocolates and a teddy bear carrying a rose. No one else in the room got any gifts even close to the grandness of this child's gift.

He / she thought to themselves, "Oh my gosh, this is humiliating!" It was right in front of everyone else when the admirer gave the gift. They said in a loud voice, "Will you be my Valentine?" My child grabbed the gifts, thanked the admirer and stuffed the teddy bear in their backpack.

Then nothing was ever said at home...until the next morning. I woke up and found the teddy bear sitting on the kitchen table. I asked one of my children where it came from and he/she said ______ got it from someone in his/her class and they didn't give one to anyone else! We have had a lot of fun teasing mercilessly. The mystery child has been a very good sport. I just can't believe someone has a crush on my offspring!

PS Chase says, HE never had a party! He also says Emma never had a party either!

PSS I have a very good feeling that said teddy bear nick named "THE LOVE PUPPY" is going with Dad on the next trip to the shooting range!

Feeling Loved!

2010-02-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Do you know what is really nice? Having a child whose love language is "words of affirmation". Every family deserves at least one child like this. Someone to always tell you how much they love you. Always hearing you are the best Mom in the whole wide world. A child who sings you goofy love songs they make up themselves. A little angel soul who writes you so many love notes, you feel guilty throwing some of them away, but where would you keep them all? In our family this is Kate. She is always the lover. And this year she came into her own with a new found understanding of Valentines Day.

She has been practicing secret songs for a month in preparation for her Kindergarten Valentine program. It is killing her that they are top secret. She attempts to sing one everyday and then either her hand flies over her mouth to stop herself or I have to remind her that they are supposed to be a surprise. Sometimes the wait seems impossibly long and she makes up new words to the melodies of the songs she's been practicing just so she can sing something to me.

She has been wearing outfits to school that she makes up all on her own trying to monopolize on this holiday all about love. Everything has to be pink or red. If the outfit is covered in hearts she can bear another color. But everything has to Valentinesish. She has even worn her golashes (red with pink hearts) to school everyday for the last two weeks.

Then the night of her program came. She was beaming with excitement. She and her classmates sang us songs, recited poems and hand delivered a special hand made valentine to their favorite person. She was so happy.

A few days later Dave and I heart attacked all the kids rooms. Within a few hours of being awake themselves the girls had recycled the hearts in their room and heart attacked our room. And then there was the hours worth of work all three kids spent cutting out tiny hearts to make confetti to shower me with when I woke up. It was a perfectly great Valentine day. But it never ended.
For the last week Kate has made literally dozens of Valentines for her family. I have kept some and others (because of the sheer volume of these sweet notes) have gotten misplaced. But how great is it to have a child that always loves you and tells you several times a day. She is a priceless gift.

My Valentine XOXO...

2010-02-22T15:23:00.001-08:00

Dance with me handsome. Dance me through the night, dance your arms around me, holding me tight.

All of my life I have loved dancing. I started classical ballet in third grade. And ever since then it has been a part of me. I'm sure everyone has heard read the book "The Littlest Angel". The angel has a song in his heart that expresses his joy and happiness for the birth of the Savior. I think we all have outlets let our own personal happiness can flow through. Some sing, some are musicians, some are poets. For me it has always been dance.

If there is any one thing I have regretted in my life it was making mistakes big enough to force my parents into removing that privilege from my life. Still, when I hear music I see an invisible self dancing to it. When I do to the Ballet I see myself on stage and the patterns and movements pull at my own body. I dream about being a dancer still.

Having to stop early in my dancing career, I never had the opportunity to preform a Pax De Deux. That was my dream. The romance of it all still makes my heart flutter.

I actually had a crush on a guy in college just because he was a fabulous county swing dancer. Dancing is intoxicating. And I was so "in love" with this poor fellow on the dance floor.

Then I married Dave. He is the love of my life. The Mary Poppins of the Male world. Practically perfect in ever way...except he doesn't dance. So for the last 13 + years I have tried to persuade him to take ballroom dance lessons with me.

Watching all these new dance reality shows like Dancing with the stars and So you think you can dance, hasn't helped his poor case. I wanted it more and more! And then around a month ago Dave asked me if I felt like dancing. I could hardly believe it. So off we were that weekend to the Arthur Murray near our house. We did a group lessons and stayed for the "Dance Party" they were sponsoring to celebrate their anniversary. It was wonderful. I bought shoes that night and we signed up for private lessons! So we have had a whole month of lessons.

I think Dave enjoys it more than he thought he would. And I love it just as much as I knew I would. We are learning all sorts of dances, Waltz, Fox Trot, Rumba, Swing, Hustle, and Tango off the top of my head.

So this Valentine was a dream come true. We have a date every week. And we laugh at each other, step on each others toes, and have a great time grinning at each other as we dance across the floor.