Since it Was Such a Beautiful Day…

 

 

I thought I would go get a couple of pictures of the girls!

This Time Last Year!

I thought I would open my pictures from last October to see what was going on and this is what I found. Last October was the first Halloween for the girls, and I really tried hard to have fun all month long. We went to the pumpkin patch, we made yummy Halloween treats, and we carved pumpkins, I read all kinds of Halloween stories to the girls, and we went to a couple of Halloween parties. With just a little over a week to go before Halloween I have to say that his October has been an epic failure on the Halloween fun. We did buy our pumpkins (at the grocery store) and I have read a couple of Halloween stories but so far I have not put out one decoration, or done anything remotely related to Halloween fun. Scott has been out of town and he is the Halloween guy around here so hopefully I can pick up the pace this week and come up with something.

It Really is Never-ending…

This whole birthday thing for Destina just keeps on going.  On Saturday she was baptized, she was so excited she has been looking forward for this day for a long time and she was just beaming.  We had so much support from our church family that it really did make it a special day for her.  It was really cute to see Avrie and her 3 little friends sing a song they sounded so cute and Tim and Kelsie gave talks.  I don’t think she stopped smiling once!

 

After that she had a soccer game and she made 3 of her team’s 4 goals.  She would come out for a break and just start laughing and she said, “I just prayed to Heavenly Father that he would help me kick it into the goal, and he did, I made a goal.”  She would say that every time.  She has loved playing soccer and it has been really fun to watch her get better almost every game.  She also said that she can now run the field without getting tired, which was really hard for her a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

 

But the never-ending birthday continues for Destina, after her soccer game we headed out to look for a new bike, that is what she really wanted for her birthday, she has been riding one of Jayden’s old bikes and when she peddles her knees come up to her chin and it was getting to the point that she couldn’t ride it.  So we finally had the time and money to go get her a bike and she was so happy it was even purple her favorite color.  I told her that was it, her birthday is officially over, no more presents, and then I got a FB message from her uncle saying that their gift was in the mail, so I guess it will continue. 

 

 

 

She is such a happy child to have in our home, she tries hard to get along with everyone and to do her jobs.  She is so loving and kind to others and she just has such a good heart, I feel so lucky to be her mom!

A Mother’s Love

It was my mother’s love and charity that taught me what love really is. For I truly believe mothers come closer to having a perfect love, as the Savior taught, than any other beings on earth.

It has been just over 8 years since my mother passed away, and I still miss her, I still wish she was here. We did not always see eye to eye and we had a hard few years, but looking back I know my mother loved me, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Our friendship started growing shortly after I got married, and it continued until the day she died. It was not until I had my first child that I felt the love of a mother and that strong bond that is forged. As a mother I am willing to sacrifice everything for my children, I am willing to go to the ends of the earth for them, or at least to Haiti, as a mother I love my children even when I don’t particularly like them at the moment and there is nothing I won’t do for them.

I had a meeting with one of my children’s teachers today and I almost starting crying when the teacher said, “So what I hear you saying is that you want your child to be valued for the individual that they are and for us as teachers to not try to put your child, the round peg in a square hole?” I don’t know why that made me so emotional, maybe it was already an emotional day, but it is true, I think we all want to be valued for who we are as individuals, to not be compared to the perfect squares. With 7 kids I have 7 different personalities, and maybe I try to put them all in the same square hole as well at times, but I try really hard to recognize each individual in our household and love them for who they are.

Sometimes I think my kids see me as someone who cannot relate to what they are going through, but what they sometimes don’t realize is that I was young once too, I had dreams. I thought I knew it all, and I thought I knew what was best for me. I remember as a rebellious teenager thinking that, “When my kids are growing up I am going to let them experience all the things my parents have denied me.” How thankful I am that I did not follow through with that conviction. I have been blessed with many good examples in my life but I often think back to the example that my mother set for me and how that has shaped my life and my beliefs. I am thankful for a mother who loved me no matter what, and I have tried to let my kids know that I love them no matter what. There are just some days that I really need to talk to my mom, today would be that day!

Confessions of a Worry Wart

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.

 

Very true!  I am a worrier I worry about a lot of things, some things I worry about for just a few minutes such as; will I be able to find a parking spot at Costco, or will I make it to where I need to be on time.  I worry about being late all the time I hate to be late.  Other things I worry about for a few days like,  scheduling an appointment, having to talk to a teacher, hoping to make it to pay day before I run out of gas!  Other things I worry about for weeks, planning a birthday party, wondering if I will get a certain needed phone call, and sometimes I have worried over things for months, such as our tax refund – when is it coming?? But, by far the most worrisome seven things that fill my brain are my children!  They have all at some point or another been the cause of sleepless nights because I am worried about them.  Right now I have a couple of them that are causing worry and stress.  It just seems that things I should be able to influence them about is not working.  Sometimes I feel like I am hitting my head against a brick wall and I act surprised when there is a big bruise.  Sometimes I wonder what am I doing wrong and how did I get to this point of frustration and worry! A lot of times I take on worrying about what my kids are worried about and I worry right there with them.

It’s Party Time!

Destina said to me the other day that her wish came true! I asked what she wished for and she said that she wished her birthday would never end! We finally had the time to throw her a big party, on Saturday night we invited her whole 2nd grade class, her church class, and a few others for a swim party at the local pool. We do this for our kids when they turn 8 they get to have a BIG party, the rest of their birthday’s are a little more low key. She had a great time swimming and hanging out with all her friends. I think they had a great time too!

Avrie had fun too, and Scott was glad the party was only an hour and a half because he had kids climbing all over him for most of the night.