Always Thinking of Others

Harlee is one of the kindest people that I know. I understand that is weird to say since she is only two but she is always thinking of others before herself. I wanted to tell a cute story that exemplifies Harlee's thoughtfulness. On Thursday night, Joey had a lot of work to do so I was going to watch the movie "The Proposal" and wait up for him. Harlee was not ready to go to bed because she had a long nap that day. So I asked her if she would like to watch a movie with mommy. She climbed into the chair with me and then said "Just a minute Mommy". She climbed out of the chair and went downstairs. She quickly came back with two oreo's - one for me and one for her! It was the sweetest thing. And how well does she know her mom? You always need a treat to make a movie that much more enjoyable. What a sweetheart she is. She teaches me everyday through her giving example.

Did he really just do that?

While we were in St George, Nash started pulling himself up on things. I seriously cannot believe that he is old enough to be doing this. He is so proud of himself and we are so proud of him. He is growing and developing into such a big and smart boy. He will be walking before we know it. Just another element added into my crazy days!! *Check out that great smile! He seriously does this every time I try to take his picture. So cooperative!

Another great trip to St. George

After the movie party, we quickly packed and were on the road to St. George. Joey's parents recently sold their condo, or the brown house as the kids called it, and upgraded to a house. It is so nice and feels like a mansion. We drove down on Wednesday night and came home on Saturday night. Aside from all of us getting sick, I am guessing we have the swine flu, we had a nice relaxing time. We spent time each day at the pool and that was all the kids needed to make it the best trip. We ate and relaxed and had a great time. I am so grateful to Joey's parents and their willingness to share this home with us. We love it!

PS- sorry for the lack of pics. The camerawoman was a bit under the weather!

Am I Crazy?

This is a question I was asking myself at 1:25pm, not even half way into the movie party with 14 of Luke's closest five year old friends. In our neighborhood, Micah's mom started the movie party tradition. This is where you invite all the kids over to your house for lunch and a movie. Luke chose the movie Monsters vs Aliens and we got the invitations out on Monday. Not only did those invited come but also a few others from the neighborhood. WOW is all I have to say. I honestly don't think I would have made it if Maryann, Ben's mom, did not offer to stay and help. The kids were fun and crazy. In the pictures you can see them dancing to a funny part in the movie- I loved this! After the movie had been on for almost an hour, the kids were ready to play. This was not so much part of my plan. I finally gave in and let them go down to the basement where they could not get into too much trouble. All in all it was a crazy success and Luke called me "the cool mom". Definitely worth it!!

Is this the beginning?

Luke has always been our whole hearted child. Because of this big personality I have worried a little that he might sometimes get in trouble in school. He is so passionate about what he believes in and I just worry that sometimes he would take things too far. Well on Tuesday I got this note home from Mrs. Westover, Luke's Kindergarten teacher:

Mrs. Childs,

Luke had two minor (minor was underlined four times) incidents today where he completely broke down. I have never seen him do that before so just wanted to let you be aware. Really, what happened was no big deal, but I am concerned about his reaction that he is okay. Please let me know if you find out that there is more.

Thanks,

Mrs. Westover

So I sent Luke to his room where we could talk quietly. I asked him what had happened and he said that he hit a girl Rachel. When I asked him why, he said it was because she would not listen to what he was saying. So I guess Mrs. Westover took him to her desk and "gave me a tissue and had a little talk". I am guessing at this point, Luke was upset and "pouted and got angry" which is what she told me on the phone. So we talked about what was wrong with this situation and that his behavior was disrespectful to his teacher. He then needed to write Mrs. Westover an apology. I gave him a card and he wrote sideways (so cute!) He wrote:

" Mrs. Westover, I am so so sorry that I got mad. I promise to not do this again. From Luke"

We then discussed how he should pray to Heavenly Father and apologize for his wrong choice. He is so funny. He said "I am sorry that I was mean and not nice at school. I am thankful that I have the greatest mom!" How cute and manipulative. How can I be mad after a prayer like that? He said that today was a much better day and I am praying that this is the one and only note that I ever get from one of Luke's teachers.

Family Pictures

Thanks to Mindi our photographer and Serene for her camera, we were able to get family pictures done for FREE! They are the best. We had scheduled to take pictures with a photographer and it did not work out. So glad that it did not because we saved tons of money and I LOVE the pictures that Mindi took. I am going to post a few of the shots that I love. Had to get them done before there is one more child to add to the picture!

Happy Birthday Old Man!!!

Yesterday was Joey's 38th birthday. He is so opposite me so his birthday was really low key. We went out to dinner on Friday night and then spent the day together as a family on Saturday. He had to fly out to Toronto Canada for work at 3am this morning so I did not want to take the time away to write this yesterday. I sure miss him when he is gone and just pray that these next few days go quickly. So since he is 38, we decided to write the top 38 reasons why we love him.

We Love you because:
1. he is my favorite dad in the world. (Luke)

2. I love him so much! (Luke)

3. he plays with me and teaches me to be good. (Luke)

4. my pavorite (favorite) dad! (Harlee)

5. me love you and dad. (Harlee)

6. You get excited with my destructo behavior! (Nash)

7. You don't mind buying used goods!

8. You have impeccable taste in music (and women!!)

9. We all learn from your vast knowledge of the Gospel.

10. Your new look is AMAZING!

11. You work so hard to provide for us a life that is far more than we ever expected.

12. You make cooking so easy because you could eat the same thing everyday!

13. You are so fun and constantly looking for ways to tease all of us.

14. You are always willing to help, even if that means getting up in the middle of the night.

15. You have a strong testimony of the Gospel and it is impossible to not know what that testimony means to you.

16. You look like your Uncle Tom!

17. You love to be home and spend time with your family.

18. You have complete loyalty for those that you love.

19. You love music and always find me great new tunes for dance.

20. You have such integrity.

21. You do not procrastinate and teach me to just get things done.

22. You will try any crazy diet and stick to it for much longer than I could

23. You are a tremendous landscaper and have made our not so big backyard beautiful.

24. You have the great ability to see the potential in everything, especially in me.

25. You have the best work ethic and we all benefit so much because of it.

26. You love our children and they completely love you.

27. You have the biggest heart.

28. You are always looking for ways to lighten other's loads.

29. You support me in everything I want to do.

30. You never complain. Well hardly ever!

31. You have a deep love for the Savior and cannot speak of Him without tender tears.

32. You believe in me.

33. You encourage our children to make good choices.

34. You honor your priesthood and bless our home so much by your commitment.

35. You can run for hours and not get tired. Maybe a little sweaty!!

36. You are the best dad!

37. You can consume sugar with the best of them!!

38. You love all of us so much!

Joey we love you so much. Words cannot express our gratitude for you. We hope that you have the best birthday and the best year!

A perfect day for HOT CHOCOLATE!!

Wednesday, September 30th, was the first really cold day we have had in a long time. They had forcasted snow and Luke was super excited. It did snow a bit while he was at school but not enough to stick to the ground. This made me, the California warm weather loving gal, super happy but the little boy who LOVES snow was super sad. He could not understand that when they said on the news that it was going to snow, why was the backyard not blanketed in white? So I tried to smooth things over with a little hot chocolate! I had gone to the store while he was at school and bought the spray whip cream. The kids love for me to squirt it in their mouth. They loved it and the sadness turned to smiles. It was not snow but chocolate always seems to make things a little bit better!