Gotcha!

So, if you haven't already figured it out, we are Mormons. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  What that means to those who aren't familiar with our faith  is that we go to church every Sunday, for 3 hours.  Yep, I know it is long time!   It is a difficult for an adult, who loves church, to sit still for that long let alone a 4 year old, very active, little boy.  

(I love this pic!  His primary teachers took this of him early this past summer and gave it to me for Christmas.)

That being said it is getting better. 

 A year ago we NEVER made it thru the entire 1st hour with out having to spend time in the halls, Today, leaving is abnormal.

A year ago he was often brought to us during the time he was with kids his own age because he couldn't sit still.  Today, his teachers praised him for being so well behaved!

A year ago there were many instances of crying when we took him to his class.  Today, he ran off to primary, by himself, as soon as the family portion was over.  

How kids grow, change, adapt, mature, and develop is AMAZING!  It really is different day to day, week to week, month to month and certainly, year to year.  I am in awe of how far he has come as  he continues to keep my life interesting and challenging and always FUN!!!

It Rained and Rained and Rained

You know you live in Oregon when you spend one day outside enjoying the sun and the very next you are slammed with rain.   Not one minute has passed today with out being able to hear it, as I type I can hear the rain pounding on our roof.  I am hopeful however, my phone swears that tomorrow will be partially sunny.  iphones don't lie right?

Because of the rain I was able to get this done.

before

after

I have been putting this project off for months.  This POST got me going today.  Thanks Megan!  I had each one of my kids (Avery twice) along with my husband come and look at my accomplishment!  I love checking things off my list! 

Because of the rain a few of  us were able to get in a lovely nap.

 Miss L was asleep on the couch at 10:30 in the morning with Miss A on the floor in front of the wood stove following suit.  Scott was the next to cave. What a great day to make this all happen.

Because of the rain we went to the Library.

We got to do puppet shows, play trains,  play toys, run around, build with legos, play with yo-yos, read magazines, and check out books. 

Because of the rain, we got to spend the day together as a family.  Love these days.  

Loved the rain today

Two Words

Sick Kid.

This week has been one lacking in sleep.  This little beauty,

had some bug, brought home by a sibling I'm sure,  in the early part of the week.   She so enjoyed sleeping with us while sick that she thought her crib no longer suited her.  Period.  It hasn't gone well for us needless to say.

This prompts me to pose one question, why do small children NEED to sleep perpendicular in a  a bed rather than parallel?  Their head in one parents side and the kicking of the other parents back is non stop thru the night.  Tell me why?  Is it a phase that kids grow out of?   Our two older kiddos don't delight in  torturing us this way any longer.  How does age change their sleep position and why, when kids can (and do) sleep in the right direction in their own crib does it change in a parent's bed?  These are the questions that have literally kept me up these past 4 nights.  If anyone out there has an idea I would LOVE to hear it!  

Hermana Ostler

We got to say, "See you later," tonight to our lovely friend, Shannon Ostler.  She is headed to Provo, UT tomorrow and then off to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday.  From there she will be headed to the Salta, Argentina Mission.  There she will serve for 18 mos for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  

Shannon came into our lives when she was just 12 yrs old.  Not long after we met her she started babysitting for us and became a favorite.  Over the last few years Shannon became a running partner, dear friend, and trusted right hand to me as she nannied for us this past summer.  This girl has literally run her legs off as she did all my long runs along side me (including the dreaded 20 miler!) while I trained for the Newport, OR marathon.  I LOVE this girl!!!  I am forever grateful to her for setting such a great example of a righteous daughter of God. 

I love that Avery will remember tonight as we said good bye.  I'm glad she got to see that  Shannon is going to sacrifice 18 mos of her life to serve the Lord and she is excited about it!!  I love that Avery witnessed Shannon prepare for her mission and I hope she will think back on it as she considers serving a mission herself.   I'm so appreciative of the  powerful example for good Shannon and her entire family has been in my life as well as the life of my family!  

We love the Ostler Family!!!

Boys

They come to us so very different.  From the very start this little guy has been his own person, separate from our girls.  He is full of fun, curiosity (which often gets him into trouble,) laughter, and OH SO much energy!  I love him!  I have yet to figure out what makes him tick and I am sure it will take my entire life to figure it out, if I ever do.  

This is what I came upstairs to find.  He had asked earlier for a knife to "cut wood," thinking that he was talking about using a hand saw or an axe.  (This is what he did outside, with heavy supervision from Scott and I, yesterday.) I quickly explained to him we would have to do that later as we needed to get ready for church.  He was not deterred because what he really wanted was a knife to get the bark off the wood we would be burning later in the morning.  As we keep all sharp objects out of sight for our curious children to access he simply reverted to a butter knife.  That seems to be what anyone would do, right?  Log debarked.  Mission accomplished.  Done.  The wheels in that brain of his are already in motion. . .what can I do next?

Ahhhh Saturday

Okay, first thing is first.  You know how when you pray for patience it's not like you miraculously become super patient and you are no longer short with your kids or spouse or the slow driver in front of you going UNDER the speed limit while you are trying to get to work so your are not too late.  No, it normally works just the opposite, at least for me.  Normally, when I pray for patience everything that would usually try my patience does, ALL IN THE SAME DAY!  That being said, after I wrote my goals down for the whole world to see I fell short in a lot of them!  It was a humbling experience.  It reminded me that we are pushed so we can grow.  If we sit stagnant then we wither.  I guess I am saying that I want to grow.

On a completely separate note, I LOVE Saturdays!  Our family is usually all together on Saturdays.  We often do our daddy/daughter dates or mommy/son dates on Saturdays.  We got both today, at least Scott and Avery got their daddy/daughter date in.  Scott is home so little during volleyball and basketball season that these moments become even more important.  Today, myself and the Littles met Avery and Scott at the high school to watch the boys basketball team play after their date to a local museum.  It was suppose to be a fun family activity, and it was.  It just didn't look like I had imagined.  The AD of our school forgot to schedule refs for any of the games so Scott ended up reffing the freshman game while we watched.  The game also started an hour late so we only stayed for the one before the natives got restless and we went home.   I have to say that I would never want to be a ref but enjoyed watching Scott hustle down the court over and over again!!   

(Lincoln killing time with some friends.)

And They Sleep. . .

Like most of you and, as I mentioned in my last post I have made some New Year's resolutions/goals.  Because of where I am in my life mine are mostly directed around my role as mom and wife.  Not to worry, I have a few just for me as well.  That being said, I have been thinking about being a mom and how that looks in my life currently as well as how I want it to look over the next decade.  I often wonder as I speak to my 9 year old how "this conversation" is going to look in a decade.  Scott and I have always joked that our take on parenting is to do as little damage as possible so our kids will need as little counseling when adults!  I still hold true to that in some respects but honestly, I want more!!  I look forward to the day when I'm hanging out with my adult children and their spouses enjoying each other.  It would be so great if my kids actually liked me enough to want to spend that kind of time together!  That relationship is starting now so I am feeling the pressure of it in my life.  Perhaps it's because I see quite a few areas where I am lacking.  Our kids are going to be with us more as adults than they are as children yet when they are children seems to count the most!  Does that sound crazy to anybody else?  

So, as I have been thinking of these new goals of mine and wanted to make them meaningful so they will span decades!  I have a limited amount of time and energy each day and it has been brought to my attention that I need to use both wisely.  In honoring that, one of my goals is to limit the media I am looking at during the day.  In lay-mans terms:  staying off my phone and computer as much as reasonably possible during the waking hours of my kids (thus the name of this post because they are either asleep or at school right now!)  I want them to see that they come first, not what I am looking at on my phone.  Too many times I have told my kids, "one minute, let me finish with this first, Then I will listen. . .or help. . .or watch. . .or whatever."  Just writing that makes my heart hurt a little.  I see the need for change. 

I am a hot mess when I don't sleep enough.  I am not kidding, I am not a nice person and some might say I'm an ugly person when sleep deprived.  My Second goal of getting to bed on time and then turning out the lights has moved to the for front of my goal list.  It's funny how my kids can have the same behavior on 2 separate days but my reaction is solely based on how much sleep I got the night before. If I want to be patient, kind, and long suffering then I need to sleep!!! 

I was 30 before my first kiddo was born.  Not what I had intended but, it was what I was dealt.  Simply put, I am going to be an old parent.  I will be pushing 60 when my youngest graduates from high school.  I am okay with that but, feel the responsibility to stay as healthy as I possibly can so I am able to do what I want to do. I want to be able to keep up and maybe even pass them up in certain instances!  My third goal is to see my MD, get a thorough physical, and make what necessary changes need to be made to move forward.  

Because I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and have a testimony of  the gospel truths I know that reading from my scriptures daily and speaking with Heavenly Father morning and night will bring a peace that can be found in no other way.  Those two things will aide in keeping me "family focused."  I have never really struggled with either, but again, I am looking for a more "meaningful way" to accomplish this.  Rather than just reading to read I want to ponder what I read or listen to and see how it is going to fit in my life.  How am I going to make it apply to my current circumstances?  I really want my kids see me do this so they will have it embedded in their spirits so  they know the ways to stay close to the Lord.  I want them to know what to do by watching me.  Actions speak louder than words!

I know that goals/resolutions will look different for each person as our circumstances vary so much.  I write these down not to say "Hey, look as what I am doing" but rather to hold myself accountable so I can stay focused.  

I recently read the following quote:

"It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we'll make the effort.  It's in the doing.  Not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals.  If we consistantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled."

                                                                                                                                ~Thomas S. Monson

In one of my first efforts to keep media limited for myself and for my little A-Dubs we spent the morning making trains.