Vacation

We finally pulled out of town on Saturday around 4:00 in the afternoon. We made it to Shauns at 8:00. We visited for a while then Shaun took the kids to see Diary of a Whimpy Kid. While Callie & I stayed home and watched a chic flick.
Sunday the kids had a great time playing in the morning, we went to Sacrament meeting then headed up to Mike's for a BBQ. Homemade rootbeer & ice cream, corn on the cob, burgers and hot dogs. Yummy!
The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and then sitting around a campfire.

I'm going to drop Brett off at EFY in 2 hours then we'll head up to Tim's for a couple days. It's nice to be on a vacation were we are just taking time to visit with family.

Summer Is Here And We're Off...

Ok not quite yet but as soon as the never ending laundry pile is finished and the house is cleaned and we're all packed we'll be off. Hopefully before noon tomorrow. Brett starts EFY on Monday so the kids and I are heading north. We'll stay with each of my brothers a couple nights while Brett is at EFY and then head home next weekend sometime. Meanwhile Brian will be at home working hard - hopefully showing houses and writing up some contracts and enjoying a LAN party with the house to himself.
Now to find the motivation to get the laundry all done & packed.
Hard to believe summer is here and the kids are already out of school.

Booking Through Thursday! - 100 Books!

I did it! I've read/listened to 100 books this year. My original goal was to read/listen to at least 100 books during the year but since it's only May I guess I'm going to double my goal to 200 books in 2010. Crazy I know - but I never watch TV, rarely watch movies and always listen to audio books while driving, cleaning, cooking, etc.
Some favorite quotes on reading:

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.~ Joseph Addison ~

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading,just as I did when I was young.~ Maya Angelou ~

There are worse crimes than burning books.One of them is not reading them.~ Joseph Brodsky ~

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.~ Confucius ~

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.~ Groucho Marx ~

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read.~Mark Twain ~

So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall. ~Roald Dahl

A Lasting Impression!

Tuesday night we were invited to an awards assembly for the Middle School. We were told Brett was getting an award so off we went. At first I thought he was just getting an award for Honor Roll but then found it they were only giving awards for High Honor Roll - 3.75 or above all 4 quarters and Brett had a 3.6 one quarter so that couldn't be it. Then I figured it must be an award for Math. Brett has worked his butt of in math this year and his teacher has told me she can't believe what he has accomplished. But the math awards came and went with disappointment at his not having received an award. Looking over the remaining awards I started to get a little nervous.
Leadership award, spirit award, service award - Brett wouldn't likely be receiving any of those awards. That left only the Heart of Thunder Award or the Principal's Award left. That momma bear instinct started to emerge -- Did they screw up and invite us to an awards night and not have an award for our son?



Thankfully that was not the case!


Brett received the Heart of Thunder Award in recognition of dedication and actions that will leave a lasting impression on the DHMS community! Wow Brett way to go!

It is absolutely amazing what Brett has accomplished this year. At the beginning of the year after scoring poorly on his first Algebra tests he was put in an Algebra A class which went at a slower pace. He didn't like it because it meant he would spend 2 full years in Algebra. He wanted to go back to his class with Mrs. Anderson. In order to do so I told him he'd better start studying. And start studying he did. On his own he made it through the entire Algebra book in just over a months time. I approached the counselor about having him put back in regular Algebra but told her I wanted him tested before he was allowed to move back up. He was tested on 2 of the chapters he had taught himself and to the astonishment of the school counselor & teacher he passed with flying colors. But it didn't stop there. With his birthday money and the money he got from selling all his video games he purchased Geometry, Algebra 2, Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus textbooks and has worked his way through those books over the last 5 months. Currently he is teaching himself Calculus.

There was a point that long ago where I feared he may not be able to graduate for high school due to the requirement to pass the UBSCT math test. There are people to whom school just comes easy. No studying required for good grades. This is not the case for Brett. He has to work very hard to get good grades. This past semester he earned a 3.83 grade point average!What an amazing turn around Brett has done. His teachers have told me what a wonderful student he is.

We are so proud of him! Congratulations Brett - You most definitely deserve The Heart of Thunder Award.

Primary Carnival

Friday I was in charge of a Primary Carnival for church. We had 13 games and before playing each game the kids had to say, read, repeat or listen to one of the Articles of Faith. I think it turned out fairly well but mostly I am grateful it is over!

Art & Music Night

Thursday night the elementary school had an Arts & Music night where art was displayed and each grade sang a few songs. It was fun to watch Kim & Brad perform.

Pack Meeting

Bradley is such a fun kid to have. He loved life and finds such joy and excitement in little things. His happy-go-lucky spirit makes mundane things enjoyable. He was thrilled to receive his first yellow bead and lead the group in a cheer of his choosing - It's a bird, it's a plane -- it's a bird.

Fourth Grade Talent Show

Kim and a few of her friends learned a dance for the 4th grade talent show. They are so cute!

Crazy Hair & Sock Day

It's spirit week at the school this week. Today is crazy hair & sock day.

We used a stick to make Kim's hair stand up.
Brad got a Mohawk.
Kylie wanted colorful hair the other day so this is what we did.

Monday, Monday

I didn't sleep well last night. I took a nice long nap yesterday so when it came time for bed I wasn't tired...at all. It was after 2:30 when I finally fell asleep and I had to get up at 5:30 to deliver newspapers for a friend. Of course at 3:30 Kylie had a nightmare and woke up Bradley and it was at least 45 minutes before Kylie was back asleep. That left me with 2 hours of sleep last night. Today was simply survival mode. A couple loads of dishes and a few loads of laundry (none of which got folded). Other than that I took 2 naps, laid on the couch, laid in my bed and read.
The only reason we survived today and the house is not a disaster is that thanks to my husband's motivation the house was all clean this morning. Why is it that the kids work for him but not for me? I actually don't want an answer to that question because I know the answer. I'm inconsistent, give in too easily and am often tired of hearing their whining and excuses so I turn a blind eye to their laziness and don't enforce the rules. That's something I'm going to work on this summer. Work first, then play (or in Brett's case work first, then study).
I am really looking forward to summer. Only 8 more days of school. Wow the year has flown by! We're headed up to Provo right after school gets out so Brett and attend EFY. The younger kids are excited to visit cousins while he's at EFY.

Booking Through Thursday

Another 6 books this week bringing me to 83 total so far this year. I know that seems like an insane amount of books but it's really not! You'ld think I sit around reading all day but I don't.
Here is how I do it. If there is an audio version of a book available I will always choose to listen instead of read because then I can multitask. It's amazing how fast the work gets done when I'm focused on something besides having to fold another pile of laundry or do another load of dishes. I also listen to books while doing family history work and when I'm in the car driving. Just while out running errands & grocery shopping I can easily listen to a audio CD. I typically listen to 3 to 5 audio CDs per day. That is anywhere from 1/3 of a book to 1 full book depending on how long the book is. I don't listen to the radio much. I rarely watch TV or movies. Instead I listen to audio books. Then I also read. In the morning I read 2 to 4 chapters of scripture and then try to read out of an LDS book for a chapter or two. I try to go to bed early enough to be able to read for at least 15 minutes and if I'm on top of it I can get up to an hour in. Of course there are days where I am reading a book I just can't put down and I do spend several hours reading. Unfortunately those days seem to be few and far between because there is always something more pressing that makes me feel guilty when I sit and read. Thankfully our local library has a great selection of audio CDs. That combined with Utah's Pioneer online library means I always have a pile of books waiting to be listened to. The problem I have is there are so many books I want to read and it's not humanly possible to read them all. I could so relate to my friend Mary Ann's facebook status the other day: So many books...so little time!

Memories of Mom

My life has been blessed because of a wonderful mother. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years since she passed away. I spent a little time today looking through some pictures and remembering some of the good times.
Christmas

7 week trip around the USA in 1990.

Mom in curlers.

Yosemite

Grandma Adventures

Disneyland

Family as the most important thing,

Her last visit to see us.

Makes me so grateful to have the gospel and for my knowledge that families are forever and I will see her again! I love and miss you mom.

Happy Mother's Day

What a great mother's day thanks to my wonderful husband & children. My day started with breakfast in bed: omelets, hashbrowns & toast and gifts & cards. Then off to church following which Brett made pancakes for everyone for lunch. A relaxing afternoon spent together and a little time alone reading. Brian made dinner and got the kids to clean up the house. Wishing mother's day came more often than once a year!

Moms & Muffins

Friday I got to attend Moms & Muffins with Kim & Brad at the elementary school. We each had a muffin and then I got to visit their classrooms where they had mother's day gifts for me. I love being a mother and having such wonderful kids!

Booking Through Thursday

I was at Women's Conference last week so this is 2 weeks worth of reading. Total books so far this year 77.

My New Life

What an incredible story. So glad I took a few minutes to watch this video. I usually don't take the time to watch videos that come through emails or are posted on blogs but this one was worth my time. Time to take stock of and treasure the things I've been blessed with.

A Little Bit of Random

While I was gone to Women's Conference Bradley received the Super Scholar Award at an assembly at school. I don't think I've ever heard such excitement as when he called me to tell me. Seriously I was grinning ear to ear just hearing the excitement in his voice. Way to go Bradley!

Kim had her last soccer game while I was gone. She scored 2 goals during that game. She's becoming a good little soccer player.
I laughed when I looked out the window yesterday and saw Kylie on the trampoline with static in her hair.

Kimberly wasn't feeling well on Sunday so she stayed home from church. I told her to make sure she did something "churchy" while we were gone. She prepared a family home evening lesson and made a new family home evening assignment chart. Since the chart only had 6 flowers she drew another one.

Kylie's assignment for FHE was to do the scripture but we let her tell a story instead. Several months ago for family home evening we had done a lesson on friendship using some visual aids. She pulled out those visual aids and retold the story. It was priceless!

Mother It Monday - Working the Swing Shift

One little insight I gained at Women's Conference came from a talk by Julie Beck. It is simply to be ready for and at the top of your game during the "swing shift". As mom's we put in at least 2 and sometimes up to 2 1/2 shifts per day. The "swing shift" is the most important shift of our day, it's the time from when our kids walk in the door after school until they go to bed. That thought combined with another simple thought "Be There" from another class I attended are what I'm focusing on this week. "Be There" = be in the present, pay attention, stop multi-tasking it causes us to miss things.
I have an amazing ability to tune things out. I think I came by this naturally - I remember my mom telling me once that when my dad came home from work he said something like "they're talking to you" in reference to one of us kids talking to my mom and her not even hearing us. As a mother this is a skill that helps keep me sane. Often my house has a dozen kids in it. If I couldn't tune out the chaos and noise out I'd go crazy! But this blessing can also be a curse. I miss things sometimes. The kids tell me something and I don't even hear it. Such as which friends house they are going to. More than once a child has been missing and for the life of me I couldn't remember where they said they were going.
So for this week I am going to be there at the crossroads making sure homework and chores get done, listening more, talking more, paying attention during those precious hours of the swing shift.

Weekly Wrap Up

Women's Conference was wonderful! It always is but unlike every other year I actually got enough sleep while I was gone this year so I didn't arrive home exhausted. That sure helps. It's always hard to be motivated to be better when I'm so tired I can hardly see straight.
I took tons of notes and reevaluated my priorities and where I'm going to spend my precious and finite time each week. I'm determined to be a better mother & better spouse and since it's now bedtime that means this post must come to an end so I can read scriptures and have prayers with the kids so we can get them to bed. I am going to attempt to transfer some of my notes and ideas from the conference onto this blog later this week but for now bedtimes taking precedence.