Perspective

This word has been on my mind a lot the last couple of days. And it has meaning on so many different levels. In particular, I've been thinking of what it means to me in the sphere of mothering. I wish I could say that I have perfect perspective. I wish I could say that I think eternally if something really is worth my time and effort, all the time. But I can't. So much of the time I find myself just struggling to stay afloat, and then after a whirlwind of a day I think to myself, "what did I actually do today? What did I do that made a difference?" Sure I mopped the floor, scrubbed the toilet, folded a couple loads of laundry, made meals for everyone in our family and some neighbor kids, paid bills, picked up the kindergarten car pool, went to an appointment, helped the kids with their homework, cleaned up countless messes, and changed several diapers, etc. But what did I really do?
Don't get me wrong, we certainly would notice if I decided not to do any of the above listed things. They are important in their own right. But, I want to make sure that I am actually making a difference in my childrens' lives every day, even if it is in some small way. If I am not careful, I can go about a days business without taking a moment to "be there" with my kids. Things have definitely gone up a notch in busy-ness the last couple of weeks....but still....if I am not carving out time to be with them every day, I fear my perspective is out of whack. I should be more careful to take into account the real purpose of what I am doing. Why am I a mom? What do I want my relationship with my kids to be like when they are teenagers? What are my hopes for my children? I really want the eternal perspective to be at the forefront of my mind every day.
Maybe I could take a break every so often from the chores with my little ones to read a few stories together. To cuddle and tell them why I love them so so so much. Ask them what they want to do for the next 20 minutes, and then do it! Ask them out of the blue if they will play barbies with me ....or something else they really want me do, but know I am making dinner so they don't ask. I want to take the time to be with them. I want them to know that even though life gets crazy, that they take precedence over a sparkling clean toilet or whatever else.
I am certainly not there yet. I have a long way to go, but that is the mom I want to be.

Wrapping up Summer

Summer was good to us. We very much enjoyed it here. I am already missing the "freedom" of summer and trying to get a handle on the new scheduled mode. I like schedules too, it just requires a transition!

Drew loved every bit of the soccer season. He still steals me whenever he can to go play a soccer match with him outside.

He is already looking forward to next year.

It is sad to say I never wrote anything about our nations birthday. We had a quieter 4th of July this year. We squeezed in several fireworks shows, and a pretty darn good one from our porch late at night that our neighbors put on--can't beat that!

Lily's look of shock, her first memorable fireworks.

Doesn't this picture just look like a fire hazard? ...that lovely pile of dead grass right next to the fireworks.... :)

We had blueberry pancakes with strawberry sauce and whipped cream for breakfast.

Nice and easy traditional breakfast.

Swimming lesson season is over too. And I couldn't resist but breathe a huge sigh of relief. Drew and Madelyn were in different classes back to back this year....and Hannah and Lily were a handful every time--don't let those cuties deceive you.... :)

I don't think the observation deck has been cleaned ever, so every time we went those two little girls were eating the most DEEESGUSTING things ever. I always brought plenty of snacks, but they preferred the old ,stale, moldy, nasty treats from 10 years ago. Don't forget the eating of already been chewed gum. Bleh!! We are still working on that with Hannah and pretty much nothing disgusts me more.

The pictures are horrible, but they are pictures. :) Madelyn had a really fun time in her class. She had some fun little friends to socialize with!

Drew finished his lessons as an entirely different swimmer. Wow. He really pushed himself and did great!

One of the goals my all of my kids wanted to do over the summer was to learn about the world. So we did. My mom took my kids and I to the International Folk Dance Festival--we did that every year growing up.

Since we had been learning about the world, it made the experience even more special. My kids loved looking at all the different flags they had displayed.

We had fun learning dances and observing them. Lily was a pro at making all sorts of international friends. :)

Sorry for the sideways picture. This was our Chilean culture night. We had empanaditas, rice, and beans. I didn't know how to cook the beans...they were non-traditional, but I think the empanaditas were pretty close!! Jed taught/talked about Chile that night after the kids and I had studied up on it.

Our good friends Brett and Leslie hosted a Japan night and it was awesome. The food was delish--I wish I could remember what the dishes were called.... Brett showed pictures, answered the kids' questions, let us use official chopsticks, and shared some Japanese trinkets with us. Thank you so much, it was very fun!!

Our very first one was a USA culture night. Good ole hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, etc. We also decorated heartily for that one with all of the projects we worked on together. It was very fun.

We still have one more culture night to celebrate with their Uncle Gerald on South Africa. It should be fun.

Whew. It was a fun and busy summer. A lot of really fun times to remember!!

Back To School

The first day of school was anticipated nearly as much as Christmas this year. Madelyn came in my room at 5 AM wondering if it was time. Drew told me he couldn't sleep well at all and woke up several times....

Of course there had to be a little picture taking.

My big girl just starting school.
And my growing Drew.
They both had their clothes laid out and ready the night before. I remember those days. Such fun times. Even though it is hard to say goodbye to summer, I do love this time of year!! Just like spring, the fall has its own feeling of "newness." I love fall.

Waving at the bus stop.

The bus ride!! Very exciting. :)

Hannah and Lily and I enjoyed some quiet time at home together before we had to get Madelyn. It is so nice to give them focused time, they desperately needed it! It is amazing how much different it is at home with just the three of us. Jed asked me over the phone how my "day off" was going. It definitely is simpler with less constant needs!

When Madelyn was home we whipped up a batch of Rice Crispy treats, our special 1st day after school snack.

This had to be one of my very favorite things of the day. All of the girls ran out of the house as soon as I announced Drew was home. There were hugs all around..........I loved that.

Just so sweet!!!

I love those kiddos.

We all got caught up on what happened on the first day over our Rice Crispy treats. Lots of stories were shared and there was a general consensus that school is going great thus far!!

Lily had little crispies stuck everywhere....

Showing each other their cool projects and special things they got.

It was a great day! I was asked by a friend if I was someone who was happy to send their kids out the door or if I am a crier......well, I didn't actually cry...but I definitely favor that side of the spectrum. I love that they go and learn and have a great time. I love that I have some time to spend with my younger ones. But man, I miss those guys!!!

A couple of weeks before school started, Madelyn was starting to feel nervous about school. I told her that Dad would give her a blessing and that would help her feel better. We had planned a time to have the blessings, but something came up...that happened several times until finally we set it in stone that the night before, Jed would give the blessings. It was such a neat experience. I felt the spirit strongly and I know that the children did too. I'm so grateful for the priesthood. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father is watching them always. I'm so grateful for the peace I felt after the blessings were given. Madelyn's nerves were soothed and after that it was just pure excitement!
So here's to a new school year!!

The next *Star of the Week*

Onto the second of my Star of the Week series:

Here we have Drew.

Things Drew loves to do:

* Help his mom

*Work with his Dad

*Swim

*art

*ride his scooter/bike

*play soccer

*play with his sisters

*Learn--especially loves math

*Loves to do a good job with everything he does

*Read

*to play the Wii with his best buddy from school

Things I admire about Drew:

*He is a very hard worker--He worked and earned money for the above razor scooter

*He is so unselfish--he has an amazing ability to understand the feelings of others and always wants to help

* He loves to have fun

*He is determined--this year in his swimming lessons, I was sure on that first day they were going to put him in the class just lower. His classmates were doing stuff he had never done.....on the very first day! But they didn't switch him. Instead, Drew got it in his mind that he was going to pass this class and move on to the next level. And he did!! He did so amazing, seriously.

* He is so kind. One day our family was going for a walk. I asked the kids what the most beautiful thing they could see was. Drew said, "You!" Awhhhh, he will be such a great husband!

Drew you are such a great example to your younger siblings, and such a pleasure to have around! We love you tons and tons!!!

The RUSH

So this last Saturday some friends and I joined together and did the Rush triathalon in Rexburg. We had a blast and I'm so glad we did it!! My friend Heidi did the swim, she is in the picture below in the sea of yellow heads. She swam so awesomely and got us off to a great start!!

Since my friends and I serve in the Young Women together, we invited the Young Men leaders to go up against us. Well it ended up that only one took the challenge and he did the whole thing himself--he is not new to this sort of thing. This was actually a picture of Heidi running out of the water, but she is the yellow capped girl in the background. Sorry about the random person dressing in the forefront.

Our transitions were pretty quick, since we were doing the different legs separate. This is my friend Tiffany in the pink running with her bike to start her 13 mile leg of the journey. There she goes! It was a tough course, lots of hills!

Here is my transition, we swapped the timer chip and I was off!!

The run was fun, hard-but good. Everyone kept warning me about a killer hill--I didn't really pay too much attention to it. I thought I was doing pretty good on those hills, until I saw what everyone was talking about. It is actually a killer cliff!! I was running up a dirt path up the cliff for the better part of one mile. I ran my hardest-we were all really trying hard to beat the YM leader and he hadn't passed us yet!! I was so paranoid I kept looking over my shoulder every time someone came up to me.
I almost threw up, but I kept going. :) At the top it was so steep that my running steps were just barely one foot in front of another so I decided to use less energy and walk with big steps for a few strides up the steepest little part. Then I kept running. We finished and we came in one minute before our iron man friend! We never thought it possible!!! So yeah, we were pretty excited! Our transitions were definitely easier and we started fresh at each leg...so he did really awesome!!

It was so fun! Heidi is going to do it all by herself next year, she has done it before but had a baby in May so she let us tag along this time. Now Tiffany and I want her to teach us how to swim so we can all do it separately next time! They sure were great teammates! Thanks for a fun time girls!!

*Star of the Week*

I thought I would take a week at a time to recognize my children--just for fun. In the midst of summer craziness, it is hard to carve out time for each child, so I thought I would write about each child individually for something fun for them and for me! So I will start with Miss Madelyn.

Things Madelyn loves:

*Barbies

*Cooking

*Doing her own hair

*Playing with her brother Drew

*Taking care of her little sisters

*Reading

*Dancing

*Singing

*Piecing together outfits--she loves clothes

Things I admire about Madelyn:

*She is an amazing reader. She reads accurately and fast. This summer she read her biggest book ever, Charlotte's Web. First thing in the morning-very often she is the first of the children to wake up-she is usually reading a book or reading the friend.

*She tries to do what is right-just the other day she told me that she needed to tell me the truth about something she had been avoiding. I was proud of her for doing something hard and for initiating doing what was right.

*She doesn't like to be pushed into something she doesn't want to do.

*She remembers to pray about things that concern her. She will often be the first with the idea to pray if we have any sort of trouble/problem. I hope she will continue that wonderful practice!

*She loves to pose for pictures! :)
Madelyn is a good girl and is getting way excited to begin school! We love our big girl and we are so happy she is in our family!!!

You get a line, I'll get a pole

I always get picture order WAY mixed up on here. This should have been more of the last picture...but ya know..

Lately we've been trying our hand out at crawdad fishing up at Ririe Reservoir. It has been a pretty fun family activity. . . especially the time when the boat quit when we were with my brother and his family. We ended up being towed back to the dock. :)

Our last trip though, was less eventful as far as technical difficulties, and way more eventful on the harvest of crawdads. We caught 10! a record for us.

See? They are strange little creatures, but that is part of the fun of it. We catch them with bacon and reel them in very slowly. I think the anticipation is a little greater fishing for these guys than with fish .
Cute little girlies in their life jackets.

Lily can be a wiggly mess on the boat, but she is awfully cute!!

Drew had the best luck and would catch 2 crawdads at a time in his net.

Lily loves to drive with her dad!

First catch of the night.

Anticipation is brimming.

Madelyn striking a pose!

What keeps these little guys entertained is mostly food and watching the crawdads crawl around in the bucket.

I was worried that we had so many crawdads and no one would want to eat them. I tried some with Jed the last time we caught a couple, they taste a lot like shrimp. But I don't like shrimp or anything that lives in the water for that matter..... But Drew and Madelyn surprised me. Madelyn loved them. Drew liked them. Hannah did not like them. :) When they are cooked those little crawdads turn bright red (refer to first picture). They look a lot more appetizing when they are cooked!

Following our crawdad adventure, we all packed up and went outside to sleep on the tramp! The kids have been so excited to sleep on it ever since their dad and I related our stories of sleeping on the tramp growing up. We finally did it.

Setting up. It turned out to be a rather chilly yet clear night. The stars were beautiful, and we enjoyed star gazing together. Drew and Madelyn like to find the Big Dipper. It was pretty fun to all be bunched up together on the trampoline.

Lily was pretty hyper and hit her second wind. Hannah thought it was funny to randomly get out of her sleeping bag and jump. Finally, everyone dozed off--except for me. I discovered I would be the world's worst pioneer. I could not sleep a wink because I kept thinking that Hannah and Lily were freezing. I constantly was checking them and feeling their cold cheeks and pulling up their blankets. I witnessed 8 shooting stars, studied the milky way, and watched as the stars slowly moved across the sky in my solitary waking hours. That night sky really is beautiful. Finally Lily started being a little fussy and Jed told me to take her in. I did. And I saw on the clock when I got in the house it was 3 AM!!!!!!! Oh my goodness.

But with kids as excited as this to sleep on the tramp, of course they are asking to do it again! And I will probably consent, when I am able to catch up on some Zzzzzzzz's. :)