School's Out For Summer!

Well school is done. It has been a great year for the boys. They had great teachers and progressed so much. Damen is patient with his teachers and helps the other students since he knows most of what is already being taught. He's such a smart guy! Seth grew so much this year and is reading great. In fact I am amazed at how well he's doing. When we read scriptures as a family he hardly ever misses words anymore. That has not always been the case just last year we were telling him what to say and he would repeat it, now he does it on his own!

The neighbors throw a big part the day school gets out. I have never been down, just always sent the kids, but this year they couldn't carry the tray of cookies on their bikes so as soon as the girls were asleep I ran them over. Wow this is a big deal! Most of the parents are there, they have half the street blocked off so the parents can sit in the road and watch and visit and then they have 4-5 huge blow ups (a guy in the ward runs classic skating). This year they had water on one but to be honest it was kind of cold and I wouldn't want to be going down it but it didn't seem to bother the kids at all.

I got there and where did I find Damen, eating food.

Seth on the other hand couldn't be bothered with food and was just playing out back in this huge castle thingy

Here's two of the blow ups in the front yard and like I said two more in the back just as big if not bigger, those had no water.

What a fun thing for the kids. I think next year I will try to have naps done earlier so I can go and visit with everyone and watch all my kids have fun on the toys.

Dance Festival 2010

Well the dance festival was today. The kids did great and had fun. Why is it though that I always get there 30 minutes early, after having set my chair up 2 hrs early. Then sit there trying to contain Railey (she finally just got up walked across the dance area over to the playground and played till it was time to start). Kenna got hungry and tired and then we had to listen to 20 minutes plus of Hope of America awards. By the time we got to dancing I was ready to be gone and so was Railey, good thing for treats. But all this for my kids to be the last ones to perform! Oh well they did great and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I love 'em!

Damen is in the first movie but he's on the far side of the pavement, but I had a sleeping baby in arms so I couldn't get up, he does come towards the middle to end and is dancing right in front of me.

Seth is in the second and I am watching him behind two heads, still a sleeping baby. I had to cut his a little short because Railey ran out in the middle, thus no more sleeping baby! And no Seth was not being bad in the above picture just as I took it she was moving him over a little.

What!

I woke up this morning to Steve saying "Oh no", "What? I asked then he told me it was starting to snow. Our poor tomatoes we are still seeing if they are going to make it they don't look to bad, we'll see. But then a couple hours later it was still snowing. I was about to jump in the shower when I looked out and saw this. Now take note--we have no "weeping" trees of any kind. The snow was so heavy and wet that my poor aspens were bent over and literally touching the ground. I didn't want any branches to break so I went out and shook all the trees. I was soaked!!!! Later when I was telling Steve and his brother about it and showing them the pictures they asked why I hadn't gotten a rake or something to shake the trees--hadn't thought of that but definitely will next time!

The wolf was earned

He did it. Damen earned his wolf last night in Pack Meeting. He worked hard and was so determined to get it before some of his friends. I guess that's the competitive part of him coming out. Anyway we are super proud of him and also know that it is only the beginning of a LONG road ahead in scouting.

Seth

Seth was the narrator in his class play the other day. The play was "Taky the Penguin." He can definitely ham it up as good as the next guy. It was fun to see. Sometimes around groups of people he can be quite shy but not on that day. He would say his different lines with such funny expressions and was just so cute to watch.



I have bugged and bugged Steve to let us have a sand box in the back yard, but he doesn't want to ruin the look of his yard with kid stuff. So no swing set, no tramp (that one is me) and no sand box, he thinks they have outgrown it and really wouldn't use it much. I beg to differ. For example today I found Seth with his dump trucks and tractors out in the road scraping up rocks. Wouldn't a sand box be so much safer?

Warmth at last

We finally had warm weather!!! So after spending a lot of time outside on Saturday, and after Steve was off to the temple, we went back outside to just sit on the grass. Well you know how that book "if give a moose a muffin" goes? Well if you give a mom some grass you'll have to take her shoes off and if you take her shoes off she will have to put them on your belly and if she puts them on your belly, your sure to go up in the air, and if you go up in the air she'll think your silhouette looks so cool against the cloudy sky, so she'll have to put you down go grab the camera an then of course start all over again when she gets back just hoping against hope that you will smile and giggle again. Well the giggles didn't happen again only cries for Railey but I still though they turned out ok. So here are a few of our fun pics on the grass.

Flag Ceremony

All Damen had to finish to get his wolf, was to do and outdoor flag ceremony. They weren't going to be doing one for a few more months so we decided to do our own. He really wanted to sing the national anthem and say the pledge of allegiance but there was some thing going on at the place and people were on the hill at the pavilion so we just stuck with putting it on, raising it, looking at it, lowering it and folding it.

Recycled Crayons

I had so many broken crayons from over the years that I decided to recycle them.


First off I broke them into tiny pieces and put them in my small muffin tins

Then I put them into a 400 oven and let them be till they were melted.

Then I popped them out and ta dah. New Crayons!

My Hero(s)

Steve took the kids to see Iron Man yesterday. They loved it, of course they love anything super hero, so it was a given even before he left the house. He always says his favorite thing about taking them to hero movies is what they do on the way out of the theater. For superman they were flying, with iron man they had their hands down (in penguin position) getting ready to boost up, I guess),for batman they are throwing the bat thingy and Spiderman of course they are going around shooting their webs and climbing the walls, literally. Then for the Halloween following the movie that came out that year of course they have to be that character--hence all the super hero costumes!!!

So the second they walked in the door Seth had on the Iron Man outfit, well upon seeing Seth Railey was not to be outdone and went and became a ninja turtle and then Superman. 15 minutes later Damen walked into the room as a Power Ranger. I love my Heroes!!!

I guess I have always looked at them as heroes, and warriors for that matter. From the time they were teeny tiny, I have seen their super powers. Damen is a protector, he looks out for and protects his siblings. He also has the power of Faith, like I have never ever before seen in a child. Seth has the power of friendship and love, he cares about others and is sensitive to others feelings. He makes friends easily, and isn't worried about what others think. He also has the power of understanding big things, just like his Dad, and has the vocabulary to go along with it. Railey has been blessed with the power of happiness and she not only is happy but she brings that happiness to everyone around her. She also has an amazing power of wanting to keep things clean! Kenna has a power of grace and a determination to do and be good her main power will be to help others see the good around them. Now can't you see why I think my kids are heroes and have super powers?

I know that they participated in something amazing even before they came to this life. They were heroes and warriors on the Lords side helping to fight Satan and they are already doing that here. It's inherent in them to fight and battle the bad guys, in fact they almost find joy in defeating Satan. They have an important role to play in this life just as they did before they came here and I know they will perform it with honor and with dignity and all the powers they have been blessed with. Can I just say how much I love my SUPER HEROES, and to think they got most of it from their Dad. That just goes to show what an amazing Hero he is to have such amazing posterity!!!!!!!!

Two Dollies

Railey had been playing with some of her dolls and was pushing them in her stroller when Kenna started getting upset. She was sure that Kenna needed a baby to make her happy. It did seem to cheer her up. I love how her hands are holding on to her. She did not want to let go of that little doll.

That little sweater that Kenna has on used to be mine when I was a baby, I love the hood on her face it makes her cheeks look even bigger!

Happy Mothers Day

I remember as a child loving Mother's Day, we had spent time as kids making our presents in school and anticipating just how much mom was going to LOVE it. Sure it was just a recipe holder but it was a recipe holder from ME, and that meant something to both of us. She would be all surprised and excited to get her gifts, she would Ooohh and Aaahh over them and then at times even USED them (that blessed woman).

As a daughter I looked up to her and still do and all I wanted to do was please her, and Dad too. But more than anything I wanted to be just like her! She was and is amazing. She could bake and cook and kept a very clean house despite having 5 kids (I still don't know how she did that). She taught us she hugged us, she read to us out of the Friend and I always remember how she would cry when she read to us, now I do the same thing! But most of all she loved us, even at times when we didn't want to be loved.

I would wear the dress she had just made me for Easter to show her how much I loved and appreciated it, I would make a special effort to not complain and to do the dishes and even a few breakfasts in bed, though that was hard since Mom and Dad always woke up so stinkin early. I just remember wanting to please her especially on Mother's Day, I still do I guess.

She was there when I became a mother, and has loved and helped me through many difficult mothering moments. And as much as I love celebrating and giving love to my mom on Mothers Day, I hate mothers day for me. I tolerate it and show excitement for the gifts my kids give me because that's what my mom did and I know I should. (however I do really love the things the boys and Railey gave me) But I hate going to church and hearing all the talks on how good mothers are and feeling like I am failing or falling way short. To be honest it is just such a hard day. I want to go crawl in bed and lock my door. It seems the kids always fight more and don't want their dinner more and wear their raggiest clothes that they own more, and I just think why do they have mothers day? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom and wife!!!!! I just feel more and more guilt on this day than on most.

That is until Steve walks in and holds me and says, "they won't fight forever, they won't not eat forever, they won't cuddle us in bed forever--just enjoy it while it lasts!" So I have changed my attitude from this morning and I am trying really hard to enjoy the day it only comes once a year (thank goodness) and my kids really are trying hard to please me. And I don't know how many "I love you"s I have got today. And I have a husband who just wants to see me smile. So for today I am going to soak it all up and love every minute of the rest of my mothering day, fighting and all.

Mom I do love you and Momma I love you too. Thanks for raising a son who loves and respects me as wife and mother. I know he learned that from you and Daddy. Thanks for your great example and for showing that to me and our kids. I love both of my mother's today and always.

both my moms

Summer Garden

Last night Steve was in charge of an EQ social. He planned for us to go to the new Harley Davidson shop for dinner and to look at bikes then we headed over to Cooks green house and got 20% off all our plants. It was a lot of fun and we were actually surprised at the great turnout we had.

But what did that mean? Today we planted everything. We got together with the neighbors and decided what we wanted to plant then purchased and then planed today. It was a lot of fun to do it all together. I hope we will be thinking the same thing at the end of the summer. J/K. We are doing the garden in 3 yards. The biggest garden has potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and cantaloupe the others have strawberries, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, basically all the smaller stuff. Now we just need to work out a watering and weeding schedule and stick to it. I think we are all definitely looking forward to the harvest!

here's the Fowler Garden

heres the James Garden

here's the Ellis Garden

Lotion?

Railey loves lotion, makeup, soap, hand sanitizer, lip gloss, chap stick, body spray, anything that makes her smell or look more beautiful (I guess). She always wants to rub something on her skin. I am always finding her in my makeup drawer when I forget to lock the door. Always finding her in the red bathroom getting soap on her hands and rubbing it on her face, because it looks just like hand sanitizer and I guess you rub that on your face too. So it was no surprise when I walked into my room and found her face and hands covered in white. You'll never guess--I might have thought it was lotion that hadn't been rubbed in yet but as soon as I checked her hands and found the tube of DESITIN in her hands I knew it was going to take some real hard scrubbing to get that guck off. Yes bum cream on the face!!! Only my Railey, I never had these issues with the boys.

but of course I had to snap a picture before we started cleaning up

Scripture Reading

We have been trying to be good about reading the scriptures with the kids before bed. It's been fun and has brought up many opportunities to teach them. We have been looking for those teaching times especially after I got to teach Elder Bednars talk a few weeks ago. For example the other day we were reading about Alma talking to Helaman about his conversion experience. Steve asked the kids why he thought he would tell him this of all things. After hearing their answers Steve said well maybe it's so Helaman would know that he too could see God and see Angels just like his Dad had. Damen pipes up so can we have dreams and see things then just like you have. Oh those are the questions you love!!!

But then last night we were reading about Alma talking to Shiblon and it brings up the word harlot. Damen was reading the verse and when he doesn't understand something he asks. So I was glad when he just kept going and didn't ask (but was worried that maybe he knew what it meant). Then he walked over while Seth was reading and asked "mom what's a harlot." "Damen that's a question Dad would love to answer," I told him. So he waited until Seth was done reading and then asked Steve. Oh those are the questions you hate! But really the scriptures allow you to talk about all sorts of things with your kids. Damen and Seth both were pretty disgusted when Steve started to explain. "Never mind Dad never mind" he kept saying hoping Steve would quit explaining!

Self Discipline

Last night after planning out the whole garden thing with the neighbors we sat the kids down for a little home evening. Steve told how Arabian horses are trained or at least one story of how they train them. He said to complete their training they would take them out and not let them have water for a few days but they would be corralled in a place where they could see water. After 3 days they would let them out and when they got half way to the water the trainers would blow their whistle and the horses "that passed" would return without water to the trainer. This would show their amazing self discipline.

He then sat the kids down in front of a plate of cookies and glasses of milk. They knew they weren't supposed to eat them until he said they could so that test was easily passed but when he asked them to control their bodies and not move or talk for a whole minute that turned out to be a very difficult task especially for Seth.

Well the lesson was done they ate the cookies and as we were saying prayers Seth again had a difficult time holding still and was playing around with Railey. After the prayer we again emphasized the importance of controlling yourself so that God can talk to you. The kids went down to bed and Steve went down and turned on the TV. A few minutes later Seth walked out of his room and came up to Steve and said, "Dad, I just don't get this whole self discipline thing."

Yes we know it was very apparent! We have a ways to go with this energetic child. Great Grandma Bailey always calls him her bull in a china shop.