Burn Out

Alright, I am going to vent just a bit so I can go about the rest of my day with you worries. As some my know, I am now going to school. This is week 4. I have reached burn out stage. I am taking the beginning classes that "teach" you all about plagiarism and how to speak to others without offending them. I have written several papers on those subjects and I am just about done with them. Yes, I know how to not offend others (for the most part). Yes, I have integrity and I will not cheat and steal from anyone. I think I "learned" it. Actually, I know I did. My parents taught me. It is basic knowledge. I can't believe some of the papers I have been reading from some of the other students. It must be a new concept for them.

Okay, I will breathe and move on. Life is good. I am glad I am in school. I just needed to vent a bit...Thanks for listening...

School Time

Well as for many of you, school is back in session. Before school started Monday, we had a back to school mini cheeseburgers BBQ on Sunday. Jeremiah demonstrated the fine art of stacking a mini cheeseburger...yummy homemade rolls

After dinner we had a reverent experience with before school priesthood blessings. I feel so appreciative to my husband for his worthiness to hold the priesthood. All the kids felt so relaxed and ready for the school year because they have received a little extra protection from their father on earth and their Heavenly Father.

The next day was school and I had the hardest time letting go of Jack. He is in 6th grade!!! Two reasons it was hard to let go...Firstly, he is in 6th grade!! Secondly, I am NOT old enough to have a middle schooler.

He was so cool. I was trying not to cry and he said, "Mom, you will be okay...it's just another year of school." When did he get so mature and sensitive to emotions. He is growing into such a young man.

Zaylie was so excited to just GO! She is so cute...she will have a great year in 4th grade. I am excited for her.
Her priesthood blessing truely touched me. She has an important work here. I know she chose our family because she needed to teach her mom how to be a better daughter of God.

My little kindergartener, Elijah. Elijah is in PM kindergarten and all morning it was like the time was ticking so SLOWLY. He couldn't get in the class fast enough.

But when we got there he slowed down a little bit and peeked in the room. He saw some kids from church and gave me a kiss and ran in. We will continue to work on his speech with the school. He will have a great year.

Last, but definetly not least, my Wyatt.
Wyatt is going to stay home with me one more year. We are going to do preschool stuff together. I am getting my fingerpaint, playdoh mojo on. We will have a lot of fun. I think that I am just not ready to let my baby go.

We will wear the armor of God. All is all, this year is going to ROCK (I hope)!

We are Back!

Whew hoo...I am back! After much techincal difficulties I am conquered the blogger bug! Wow, I really need to catch up...

This summer was fabulous! We had weddings, went camping, did some kayaking and did LOTS of visiting with friends and family. Here are some pictures of the tribe in action.



Jack and Uncle Andrew made a tow hitch for his bike. He went around the neighborhood and mowed people's lawns for $5.







We square foot gardened this summer and WOW what a garden it was. It was our first sucessful garden. We now have 6 different size boxes with lots of veggies, fruits and herbs. It has been so nice to have fresh, "local" produce.







This was one of our camping/motorcycling trips...loading up and planning takes the longest.







We had a Harry Potter Count Down with the Westovers. On this day we made rice crispy snakes and then decorated them with candy. The snakes were from the 2nd book, Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets. They kids had a great time. On the last day we all made pipe cleaner glasses and casted spells all day...it was GREAT!







Zaylie and Wyatt at Dominic and May's wedding. They look calm but as soon as the music started they were dancing machines!




Jack asked Andrea to dance at the wedding. She is the first girl he has danced with not including me or Zaylie. He danced her around the floor. Can you tell he was a little proud of himself...




Elijah and me dancing the night away. Elijah is such a little Romeo. He would even bow after each dance...what a cutie!






Here we are camping in LaPine Oregon with nothing but a port-a-potty. It's our annual trip the Reck family. Between the 2 families we had 20 people there...it was so much fun!








What more can I say. We had a great summer! Now that my blogger bug is beat I will be bloggin' hopefully more often...Hope you had a good summer too!

Spiritual High

Well last week I went to Women's Conference at BYU and let me tell you I am still vibrating from the spiritual high! It was doubly great because I went with Joann...my bestest friend. It was amazing. We did service during one of the talks. We cut out school bags for children in our countries.

I think that one of my favorite talks was about "Doing your Best vs Being your Best".
The speaker reminded us that as we know, Christ is perfect, but he is perfect in eternal things such as compassion, charity, love, obedience etc... we do not know if he was perfect in multitasking, cleaning, cooking, running errands, baking etc...
unfortunately we sometimes get bogged down the latter tasks and feel that we fall short. We need to stay focused on the eternal tasks and with every day we can evaluate and with our Savior's love we will come much closer to our goals. Isn't the atonement great!

Anyways, I can't wait for next year!


P.S. for some reason I am not able to add any pictures SO I will add them as soon as I can...is anyone else having this issue?

Tax Day

Okay, maybe it is just me but I get a little depressed on tax day. I think that it is because I am reminded how my money is just being wasted on stuff that is for the most part fluff. I know that when things are tight it my house we cut things like going to the movies and eating out. If I was the government I would just ask you for the money so I could take you, me and all my neighbors to the movies and dinner because it was the "right" thing to do...

Okay, I know that some good is done and I am grateful for your government I just would like to see a little more control and a little more responsibility. After all they employ my husband so I am very grateful for that. I just would like to see a little more control. Today is the tea party protests all around the country. I am proud of my parents...they are going. Find out more, Tax Day Tea Party

I guess the best thing for us to do is do put the right people in office and let our thoughts be known...

Thanks for listening to me rant a little bit...

Confessions of a Bad Blogger

Sorry everyone who once checked out my blog I have neglected my bloggin duties. I have found Blogger's arch nemeses, FaceBook and I haven't been able to stop the insanity. After much shame and guilt I am now back, hopefully for good. Don't get me wrong, I can not leave the instant gratification of FaceBook but I will stay true to Blogger too.

I must confess FaceBook has been so fun. I was able to find some of my long lost dear friends. We had dinner a couple of weekends ago. What a great time! I know it sounds silly but I was a little scared to reunite but within seconds of hugging all fears were gone and the laughs and stories started just like old times minus the old high school habits. It was a great night!


New news!! Elijah lost his first tooth...Zaylie pulled it out cause we are always so squeamish about pulling teeth.



So I will do better...I will be a better blogger for you all! Thank you for forgiving me...FaceBook is just so intoxicating. Ha ha!

Proud Mamma

Make a Smilebox slideshow

You are Divine

Hopefully, no matter what your faith this is inspirational to you. I am so glad that I know without a shadow of a doubt who is my Heavenly Father and where I came from and where I will return. If you what to know for yourself just ask, He will answer! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

A Quote

This morning we were dropping off the kids for school and Elijah said to me, "Mom, wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to grow up." Then he shook his head and said, "Man, it is just going too fast for me." I thought to myself isn't that the truth! I can't believe how fast it has gone. I feels like just yesterday I was up to my eyeballs in diapers and super sonic messes. Don't get me wrong I am so glad that is over but to quote my five year old, "man it was fast."

A Feeling of Renewal

Today I have such a feeling of renewal! I just am so grateful for yesterday. I was able to feel of the spirit and enjoy experiences share by others. I remembered the bare necessities of my life and made a commitment to always remembering. I think that the thought of spring, springing is getting me excited for change and warmth. My 2 oldest kids are having their birthdays this weekend and I can't believe how much has changed since I became a mom. I am definitely better now then we I first started which, I guess is a good sign. When we first had Jack we were still in the hospital and he started crying. Jeremiah and I looked at each other and then called the nurse. She explained to us that he was ours and we needed to care for him. At that very moment I felt the change, the shift from just me to me and my child. As a mom life is totally different then I ever imagined but all for the better. I just love it. I feel totally grateful that I have been able to be a full time stay at home mom. Watching all the growing and experiencing all the hurdles along the way. What a beautiful plan that our Heavenly Father has created for us. All the pieces fall into place if we just have the faith and trust in him.

Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother
-Lin Yutang

Random Acts of Kindness

Today, I am just grateful for all the love in the world. It is definitely not focus on if you only listen to the news but I am convinced that the people of the world are, for the most part good-hearted people. I have witnesses a couple of random acts of kindness and they have restored my optimism! I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways. We need to spread the word that WE are still a good people. That all is not lost. The economy and maybe( but hopefully not) the government maybe going to hell in a hand basket but that will be okay. We will endure to the end. We are a good people. WE will help each other and WE will not let each other down. With the craziness of the economy and the hopelessness that is being spread through out, I feel like what can I do? Now I know, I need to warm the hearts of my fellow men. In turn, that will help each one of us to gain a better the eternal perspective. Remembering that life is not just now but it is goes on. Wow, that sounds a bit deep, but not really. A simple smile or hello can be an act of kindness, right? So thank you for showing me all of your random acts of kindness! I am grateful for all of you!

Okay Okay I am now ...

Okay Okay I am now on facebook. I know, Sarah is finally doing it. After many requests and alot of prompting I have done it. I hope you all become my friends because I might get a complex if not. Ha Ha!

Well, 6 more weeks of this...what should I say... beautiful weather. I don't know about you but I am ready for the heat!! This winter has really sucked the life right out of me. I could never understand the whole "snowbird" thing until this year...I totally get it. Punxsutawney Phil says 6 more weeks well then let's pray that the rodent is wrong!

The Power of a Name

In our home we have struggles. We have the struggle of....what cereal to have in the morning. The 2 older kids love Cream of Wheat and would love to have it everyday. The 2 little ones hate Cream of Wheat. They even gag when I have them taste it. So as the mom, I try to be the peacekeeper and stay neutral be let it be known I love it too! Well today I found a way to make all parties happy. Up until today we have called it, Malt o Meal (another great cereal) just because they are very closely related and it is a fun name to sing, (another story...) but this morning when asked, "is this Malt o Meal?" I said, "no, it is Cream of Wheat." Instantly the little ones said, "this is great, I love this, Mom can we have this everyday?" Success!

The power of a name and how it is perceived. In a round about way, I started to think about other things that "hid" behind their name. Some for the good and some for the not. It is just so important to keep sharp and focused and not let tricky people, (mom) fool you...lol!

As You May of Guessed...

Well as you may of guessed...Jeremiah and I have joined the gym and we have started a new healthier plan for our lives. We started on 12/26/08. We both love working out, we have just decided to make it a priority again! Jeremiah has lost 10 lbs and I have lost 3 lbs. I will keep you updated!

Tag...I'm it!

Okay I excepted the challenge of the RommaLamaDingDongs and posted my 4th picture in my 4th "my pictures".This was such a great day! This is my beautiful mom...really Jeremiah's mom (my mom too!) We went to downtown Pasco to the farmers market and bought firey peppers. Later that week Jeremiah and I canned those peppers. We made pepper jelly that ROCKED but we did learn the importance of wearing gloves when handling peppers. (I always thought, "no big deal...how bad could it be?") So if you are brave...take the photo tag challenge and post your 4th pic in your 4th "my pics" folder. Have fun!

Freebie!! David Bowman

I wanted to share these beautiful pictures and what the artist has to say about each one of them! You can ALL win a FREE signed 8x10 print of your choice (out of the three prints), by copying and posting to your blog or website this whole post! After you post then send an e-mail to David (contact@bowman-art.com) with your website or blog address telling him you posted it and that you read about this offer on my blog. Also send him your name and mailing address and he will send your signed 8x10 print of your choice :) Hurry because...
*This offer expires Monday Jan. 5th at noon!!*

David Bowman: has had a passion for art ever since he could pick up a pencil. He loves creating images of the Savior that inspire and uplift. Along with his Christian fine art, David has also written and illustrated a series of scripture storybooks for children titled "Who's Your Hero". Check out his website at www.bowman-art.com to see more of his precious art.