Mommies and Dinosaurs

I'm so sorry for getting so behind with our little blog here--- I promise there are cute pics of the kids in this post....

A few weekends ago, I went to Time Out for Women (a ladies retreat) with 4 other women from my ward. I have always wanted to go to one, but have always had a baby or kids that seemed too young to leave. So, I thought I'd go for it!!We had so much fun visiting together and enjoyed much needed restoration of our spirits. I definitely returned rejuvinated and rededicated to the Lord.


I think my favorite speaker was Sheri Dew. She always speaks at these events, but is so very inspirational to me! Her talk focused on our role and our mission in this life. So. amazing.

She spoke of how we need to stay focused on the Lord's will for us and not become distracted by the distorted images we see in magazines and on tv that aren't even real!! Here is a link to a video she shared:

Click here


So... some of my favorite quotes from Time Out:

"It's not a ratio of His part to our part, it's a relationship that is greater than the sum of the parts."- Brad Wilcox

"It will be your 'HOPE IN" list that will sustain you while you wait for your 'HOPE FOR' list."

"There is no limit to the influence a righteous woman can have."- Sheri Dew

"Part of the reason we need to be immersed DAILY in God's Word is so we can learn His language... His grammar."- Sheri Dew

"There is never anything false about offering another person HOPE." DeeAnn Flynn

"The purpose of prayer is to have my will come in line with His will." Kris Belcher (who literally made me laugh so hard I cried- twice.)


While I was off getting a much-needed Mommy break, my amazing husband was adventurous enough to take the kids to the Dinosaur Park all by himself. Isn't he wonderful?

Victoria is our little scaredy-cat, so we were both a little nervous about how she would react to the exhibits. Most of the time, she was great, but she did have a hard time with this one:

It shows a Mother triceratops protecting her babies from a robotic T-rex that roars and moves. Matt, always the clever dad, convinced Tori to be tough and pointed out that the mom was protecting her babies. So although this was her first reaction:

Matt got her to stand up to the T Rex and yell at him to stay away from the babies!

Since I wasn't there for this extravaganza, I'm mostly just posting pics for you to see- I don't have too much info to give you (just some really cute kids)

They had this really cool sand pit where you could dig for fossils:

Daphne met lots of friends at the park.. here she is with Grace:

So, during the conference, I called to check in with Matt. He said that he didn't realize that Daphne was so popular. I wasn't sure what he meant, so he explained, "Isaac will run into someone he knows and say hi, but if Daphne finds someone she knows, they start following her around." I laughed and was telling my friends about it when we got off the phone. One of them asked, "Is Daphne just really social?" Cheryl and I sort of giggled. (she knows Daphne really well). I said, "Well, Daphne is really social... she's something. She's just a leader. She'll get people doing something, and Matt and I are just praying that it will be for good!"

Just after we sat down, Sheri Dew started talking again about her nephew, who she said is just a live wire. She said, " He's the kind of kid who will either be the President of the United States or a convict". Cheryl and I just laughed. I know that Daphne won't be a convict, but she will be a leader, and we truly do pray that she will use her gifts to help people and to follow the Lord. She is such a passionate girl, and we are thrilled that she is so smart and friendly.

Isaac has become such an amazing big brother over the past few months. It is such a joy to see him be a protector and a helper to Tori. She was a little nervous about the big slide, so Isaac went with her!

Isaac and Daphne might be having a little too much fun here. Victoria, on the other hand, seems nervous!

All in all it was a very successful weekend. Although I felt guilty for leaving Tori so long, Matt was a champ and the weekend seems to have really cemented their bond. Victoria now cries for Matt when she's hurt and is always sad when he's not home. Over the week before this event, she started saying, "Love you!" She said it to me 3 or 4 times before this weekend. The night I returned, we were all reading scriptures together before bed and Tori ran to Matt and jumped in his lap saying, "Love you, Daddy!"

Melt my heart.

Joy

Today I rode home from school with the world's most adorable two year old in my back seat. She had curly blonde pig tails pulled up with big red bows and was wearing her Barbie sunglasses, all while singing "I am Like a Star Shining Brightly" at the top of her lungs. Made me think that there could be no sweeter moment in life. I realize that I probably have that thought once every other day or so... I feel so blessed beyond measure. But for some reason, this image seemed to imprint on my memory... I didn't even have a picture but I hope I will remember those few moments forever. Anyway, then I came home to see this video posted on my Facebook:

Reflections of Motherhood

I loved it!! I had so many things I could add to this list... things I wish I could tell myself 9 years ago. Firstly,

Don't wish away the hard times... more will follow. Just savor EVERY moment.

Perhaps it has been the children returning to school, or maybe it is just me hearkening to the gentle whispers of the Spirit, I don't know- but I feel like I am finally coming to a place where I am doing *better* at savoring the moment. I wish I had done so more often, but I won't "should on myself" as my mother always says. I wish I had realized how, although it can be frustrating and exhausting and mundane and unpredictable all at the same time, it is also the most joyous time and you're missing it!! You are whining away the good times hoping for that day when you actually sleep or that day when he's actually potty trained or that day when they go to school and you can have a complete, coherent thought for a few moments. I wish I could say, " Soon, too soon, you will have all too much time to think about your own wants and needs. They won't want to tell you every single thing that happens and they won't want to kiss you goodbye. Too Soon."

I guess I just wanted to say... I LOVE them. My joy is full watching them grow into themselves, into the amazing people God wants them to be. I genuinely don't know how I could be happier...

First Day of the First Grade....

It's the first day of the first grade! First day of the third grade! (That's a little Veggietales music for you!)
I've been working on this post forever... trying to find a way to edit the disaster that became the annual "1st day of school cake". I was in such a hurry and I thought I would save some time by making homemade chocolate frosting and using a store-bought tube of decorator icing to do the writing. I was so wrong. You can't read any of it, but the idea is to document what grade everyone is starting that year and then have a yummy treat when they get home. It was a yummy treat, so at least it served one purpose!

Here is Daphne on the big day! And my handsome, enormous 3rd grader:

Daphne, our resident super-model:

I think this one is my favorite... I love how you can see all their little personalities in it.

Victoria had to have a turn holding the cake (very carefully)

Matt and I spent much of the summer praying and planning for how we would handle the first week of school. August is an especially stressful time for us, I am always trying to go school shopping and getting the kids ready while simultaneously preparing my own classroom and meeting my students. Matt's boss wanted him to go out of town on a business trip for the first week of school.
I said no.

And that was okay.

Except that they then said that they would need him to come in at 7 am the first few days of school. And that was not okay.

We have a rather delicate morning arrangement. I have to be at my school, with Tori at 8 am. Matt takes our big kids to school at 8:45 and goes to work at 9. It is perfect.

When everything goes perfectly.

The first week of school is not the time for everything to go imperfectly, but this year, it just seemed like that was our fate.

My very first day is actually an orientation for my student teacher, so I don't have children in my class until the second day of school. Because of this little bit of flexibility, I arranged to be at my school around 9:15 so that I could take my sweet Isaac and Daphne to school for the first day. And to be honest, I would have tried to swing that arrangement either way. I have missed being the drop off parent on too many first days of school and I wasn't going to miss this one for anything.

So... we had a first day plan, with a tentative and precarious second day plan... but we felt confident we would be able to figure it out. And then... I got an email from the school. Apparently, our school has "Back to School Morning" on the first day of school in lieu of "Back to School Night". I cried and cried and then cried some more. So, basically, if I wanted to be the dedicated parent (my first job always) I wouldn't be able to go to my first day of school as a teacher. And vice versa.

I am blessed enough to work with some amazing women who love children and love their families and who completely understood and empathized with my predicament. My sweet asst. directors suggested that I arrange to do my orientation with my student teacher on another day so that I could spend the first day of school just being "Mommy". Thanks, Sherrie and Camie and Carole. I love all three of you and admire you so!

And so I did just that. I got to spend the entire first day of school wearing only my Mommy hat and I loved every minute of it. Even the teary ones.

I couldn't believe the pangs in my heart and the apprehension and concern for their safety and confidence. I think I spent the entire morning in one long mental prayer. Here is my sweet Daphne and her friend, Megan, who was a little sad to leave her mom.

Even though I felt apprehensive and concerned, Daphne looked ready to take on the world. Look out First Grade, here comes Daphne. Prepare yourselves.

And here is my precious Isaac, with his friend, Jake (notice the height difference between Isaac and the other 3rd graders).

Isaac looked a tad bit like I felt, but never said a word of concern. He seemed capable.

I left them with a prayer in my heart and tears on my cheeks. I wasn't ready for this.

But even if I wasn't ... they were ready.