Stuff and Things

Now that school has begun, I really want to do better at capturing the day-to-day stuff. So here goes... 

The picture above is me kickboxing, while Daniel held the pads for me. It is blurry because I am moving super fast. Te, he. One night we had a dilemma, the kids really wanted to watch The Lord of the Rings, but it was getting late and we still needed to exercise. We decided the best choice was to do both at the same time. I have pretty much memorized my TaeBo workouts at this point, so for an hour of the movie we sweat buckets while hoping that Frodo would make it on his perilous journey. It was actually pretty nice having such a great distraction. I may start doing that more often, just working out with movies -- especially in the winter time. 

Sammi and Daniel got to go on a youth temple trip. They love going to the temple. It is super nice that they can both go together. It makes my heart so happy to see them have joy doing the work of the Lord. 

If you read about the heart I found in my bed, well, this is what is normally in my bed. I am often greeted by a pile of toys as I jump in bed at night. Henry loves to get in my bed and bury himself in pillows, while playing with his transformers. He has this thing for Transformer Rescue Bots. He is obsessed with them, and takes them wherever he goes. He loves the Rescue Bots show, and it's so cute to watch him line them in a row and transform them as the Rescue Bots "assemble." 

The kids have been having fun building train tracks in my room. Normally they build them in their room, or the living room, but they thought having a train track in my room would be a nice surprise for me. So cute. I love these tracks. We have had them for a long time and they are super fun to build. I have made some pretty sweet layouts myself. :) 

Each year the children get a father's blessing before school starts. For the last 2 years we have had our great friend, Tyson, come and give the kids blessings. He was one of Charles' closest friends, he was even at the hospital when he died. He was one of the few people who saw him after he passed, since we had a closed casket. The kids have a really special love for him, and he has been so good to our family. His wife let me know he fasted all morning to prepare to give the blessings. Each blessing was very special, and very personal, and the children took them to heart. What I remember is that Sammi was told to let her light shine, Daniel was told to be great and humble, and William was told to be obedient to his mother. Tyson also took a moment and asked if he could share his testimony with us. He let us know of Heavenly Father's love for us. It was a precious moment. 

My children crave attention from a Father figure, and Tyson is always so good to step up to the plate, and make it happen. The world needs more good men like him. 

Sammi went to her first youth dance. They got to wear casual clothes! We always had to wear dresses.  She was so excited, it was adorable. 

While she was gone I read The Lord of the Rings to the boys. (It is that time of year, fall time is Hobbit time.) 

When she got back we were all waiting for her full report. She sat on my bed and we interrogated her for all the details. The boys were super interested in what she had to share, especially Daniel, who is her protector. This will be the routine for all future dances/dates, etc. I will gather all the boys around my bed and she will have to look us in the eyes and report all the details. When it comes to boys and my daughter, let's remember the picture of me doing kickboxing... to get to Sammi you must pass the gauntlet of me, my army of 3 boys, oh, and her guardian angel father who can see all. Good luck. 

 She shared a captivating story, with an eager audience. It was actually pretty hilarious to watch. 

I got myself this picture of Jesus for the wall in my room. It reminds me that anything is possible with Jesus. I saw it when I was in Utah, at the bookstore, and I just had to have it. It is perfect. I love it. 

Here we are doing our daily scripture study. We listen to the Old Testament in the car on the way to seminary, and we read from The Book of Mormon every night as a family. It is always crazy time as we read, but the Spirit can work through the crazy and pierce our hearts even still. Just reading from the book is powerful, and invites the Spirit into the home and family. 

Sammi and Daniel are both in middle school. They are also both the same height, for now. We are now early risers, I am getting used to the 5am hour. They were super excited on the first day of school. Notice the kleenex boxes... for all the tears they would cry being away from me all day. 

 We drive in the dark to get to early morning seminary. 

 It is nice that we get to see the sunrise. 

William was super excited for the first day of school too. He still has his arm splint on, but it will be off in a few weeks. He is pretty well healed now, as he is proving by climbing. 

 He is going to love the 3rd grade! 

 It was cute to see him with all his friends at the playground. 

Now that summer is over, I am back to running with Henry in the jogger stroller. It has been an adjustment. It is SO much easier without it. It is hard to keep good form while pushing, especially since the alignment seems to be really off. I am seasoned at pushing the stroller, I have been doing it for 14 years now. I just need to get used to it again. Running free all summer was pretty amazing. Henry has been a good sport about it so far. 

 I stopped at the river so he could throw rocks. 

 He LOVES throwing rocks. 

 Just trying to stay healthy so I can keep up with all that the kiddos are doing. 

 I am so blessed to live in such a lovely place.

 My new running buddy. 

 It started looking a little bit like fall down by the river. It was kind of smokey, but once the air clears out, it should look and smell pretty amazing. I love these trails. They are so peaceful. 

 Everyone was super tired after school. It is hard to adjust to the new sleeping patterns. 

 Going through all the school paperwork...

 Lots of things to sign and read. 

You must have cookies on the first day of school. I made some of the most yummy cookies I have ever made. I used some different ingredients, and it made a lovely difference. 

 Henry was happy about his cookie. Yum, yum! 

Bring on the good times!