We have a scout!

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen. I have a child who is old enough to be a Boy Scout. I am a little overwhelmed by this prospect. In addition, I am, well...apprehensive.
Don't get me wrong: We love the Boy Scouts of America. We support them financially every year and think that they have great programs to assist parents in molding their boys into contributing members of society.
I just have absolutely no clue about anything scout related whatsoever. I don't even like thinking about scout related activities because it automatically makes me think of camping. And I think we all know how I feel about that.
So. Isaac is a Wolf. He has a wolf book and has to learn about something called a bobcat and do all sorts of "fun" stuff. We went to his very first activity, which happened to be the Blue and Gold Banquet, celebrating 100 years of scouting.
We had to make a cake to decorate and oh yeah, get his scouting attire. (That was purchased exactly one half hour before the banquet.) I'm such a good mom. Ha! (Matt got it for him right after work!)
Here we have Brother Page, who informed Isaac that as the newest member, he would have to be branded. He told him that the had a poker that they would dip in hot ashes and then brand on to him. Isaac looks a little nervous.
Of course, the metal was cold and the "hot ashes" were flour, but it was all in good fun. Isaac just made a funny face and was such a good sport once he realized that he wasn't going to be burned.

Here he is with his branding... he had just gotten over strep throat and looks a little drained still. Poor little guy.

Then we got to commence the cake decorating with the provided materials. Isaac came up with this idea on his own!

I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I guess we'll see how scouting goes- I'm excited for him to get to learn new things and feel involved---- even if I have to do "scouting" stuff, too!

Abe Lincoln says.....

"Be honest: Do you like my beard?" Daphne has been learning about Presidents at school. Well, she was learning about them in February. So, when Matt gave hear a beard in the bath, she automatically said, "I'm Abe Lincoln!"

An Abiding Mom

I needed this today.

I'm sharing this with you because I thought maybe there is someone else out there who needs it, too.

I'm pretty hard on myself. I think one of the most notable characteristics in my personality may very well be my tenacity. Some may call it pig-headedness. Whatever. Either way, it's one of those characteristics that can be used for good or bad depending on the situation and the health of my soul at the time.

As a mom, some days I (ridiculously) think, "Hey! I'm doing great! I'm such a good mom!." and other days, I worry, "Gosh- I shouldn't even be allowed to have kids I am such a bad mom today!." And, likewise, either statement is detrimental to my walk with Christ and to my life as a mother as well. Both statements are focused on me.- on my performance or lack thereof...

There are so many functions in the life of a mom: meal preparation, keeping everyone healthy, timing medicine for one child's allergies and one child' illnesses and preparing special foods for another child's digestive system, cleaning, taxi driving, meal prep., soccer practice, scouts, dance, school, homework, meal prep., cleaning, making sure everyone's bodily functions are working properly, grocery shopping, clothes shopping, meal prep again and oh yeah, "simultaneously teaching virtually everything" all at the same time. It occurred to me last week that just being a mom reminds me of the idea of keeping all the commandments all the time"... I am ever behind and never quite on top. Sigh.

Daphne's 3rd Birthday

So, what?

Should I just give up? I mean, Christ did say, "Be Ye therefore Perfect?"

I can't.

But what if he had said, "Be ye therefore mediocre?" (I got that from Sheri Dew!)
What if everyone just quit trying?

And as I was feeling particularly bombarded by life last week, I read this:

I know it's fuzzy- You can read the bigger version here.

Isaac and me 2 weeks before Daphne was born



My college graduation and the day I found out we were having Daphne!




This was one of my favorite sections: She abides in Christ and therefore bears much fruit.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me, ye can do nothing." John 15:5

Daphne and me - she's 7 months, I think...

I think that one of satan's most successful tricks (for me) is to use my tenacity and determination against myself. Perhaps you could call that Pride. I find great joy in the peace and happiness that Christ offers me as a mom and I am thankful. At first. Then, after a few days, I am distracted and I think that I should be able to just grit my teeth and be a patient mom all day.

And I'm Not.

When am I going to permanently GET the fact that ALL of my good fruit comes from Him?

Daphne and me in my classroom at school

And that doesn't mean that trying is a bad thing, it just means that I realize that although I can't be perfect on this earth, I still try. That's the beauty of GRACE! His power empowering me to do things immeasurably beyond my own strength. (things like motherhood!) I may not be able to be perfect today. But I can be a little better tomorrow than I was today. I can acknowledge my Savior in all things- relying "wholly upon the merits of Him who is mighty to save." (II Nephi 31:19)

Isaac and me in Vienna

And that brings me to my new mantra:

I am in perpetual and passionate pursuit of my Savior.

The big kids and me in Rothenburg Ob der Tauber

And even though it won't be in this life that His work is completed in me, I won't quit running and I won't quit trying. I'll give all that I can and allow Him to take of pittance and make it enough.

Rue Cler in Paris
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

II Corinthians 12:9

Ice Caves in Austria
So, even though my offering as a mother may be as measly as five loaves of bread and two fish appeared to that crowd of 5, 000, He will bless it and make it enough- more than enough!

Ice Cream in downtown Stuttgart!

Please forgive me for sharing some pictures of me with my kiddos. I needed to remember some images of us together that didn't involve chaos!

Victoria and me at The Pumpkin Patch

Happy Heart Day, Y'all!

I have been trying to make Valentine's Day a little more festive at our house over the past few years... I know that it is mostly propelled by capitalistic ventures and relentless guilt-induced advertising. I get that. And Valentine's Day isn't really a big spending holiday for Matt and I. But, I do like the idea of having a special day dedicated to showing our love for others, whether that love be romantic, familial, parental, platonic or whatever. And, yes of course I think that we should show our love all year round and yada, yada, yada. I agree with that idea as well. But sitting at home wrapped in my "holiday principles" on Valentine's Day isn't helping anyone. Instead, we have chosen to take this holiday and use it as an opportunity to share the love that Christ has instilled in us with those around us:
with one another in our marriage, with our children, with our neighbors and teachers and friends. And although it is easy to become cynical about the cheap and false portrayals of love that are all around us this time of year, we are choosing to take this day and make it special for our family!

Here are the girls and I in our Heart shirts...

We have had so much fun dressing up in these this year. Whenever one of us has worn one, we have all put ours on. So Tori walks around pointing at each of our shirts and matching the hearts, and then she'll walk over to Matt and Isaac and point to their shirts, saying, "Nononono." (Because they don't have heart shirts!)

I think Victoria's is the cutest--- you can't see it but it says,

"My heart belongs to Daddy."

I love it! And you may be wondering... I thought you said this wasn't a big spending holiday for you?

But, in preparation for Valentine's this year, I went to Target and Gymboree and bought our shirts the Monday after Valentine's Day for at least 50% off. So I think I got all three shirts for a total or $8! Not too shabby!

We did lots of other things throughout the week... neighbor gifts, valentines for friends, decorating, etc...

On Sunday morning, we made our traditional Whole Wheat Pancakes and had to shape them in hearts:


And that evening, we made valentine sugar cookies! This is always a fun, colorful and exhausting experience. Isaac wasn't feeling well, so Daphne was my chief cook's assistant, and she refused to get dressed so that she was decent for pictures! While I was baking, Victoria snuck in and got a cookie off the cooling rack and started munching it down. Here she is, so proud of her stolen goods!

(Her face is stained from her spaghetti and meatballs!)

And after I got her all cleaned up from that mess, she snuck back in and got a frosted cookie!
Once again, you can see she's very ashamed of herself!

I was able to teach a lesson on Jesus Christ at church that morning. In my pursuit to find a fun little handout and sort of bring the lesson together, I found this:



I loved it right away. I used it as a bookmark and attached Dove Promises to give to the ladies in my class.
We thought it was appropriate on this day of love, that we celebrate the source and origin of all love. All the love that I feel and am blessed enough to receive originally emanates from our Father in Heaven. It is He who has given us both the ability to love and a reason to love. So, my message at the end of that lesson was this: I pray that this little bookmark might help you to remember real, true and genuine love on this day rather than the commercial and imitation love offered from the world. After All:

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him...We love Him, because He first loved us."

I John 4:16 & 19

More and More and More Birthday Pics!

Last Saturday, we had Isaac's official 8th birthday party! He had wanted to go sledding, but we have had a reamarkably snowless February this year. So, 98% of me was pleased with the weather, but I was a little diappointed that Isaac didn't get to do the snow activities. So, in lieu of the sledding fun, we had a LEGO contest and a video game-a-thon... I was a little nervous that all the 8 year old boys would be bored by the Legos, but I know Isaac can spend hours creating things with them, so we went for it. (By the way, if you have a 4 year old of either gender, I think legos are one of the best toys ever invented. Forget the kits until they are older, but just basic legos are priceless.) And I think it was a success. Several of them ran into the house exclaiming their jubilation to see all the legos.

While some continued with the Legos, others took turns playing Isaac's new Kung Fu Panda game that we gave him for his birthday. It was 4 player, and everybody got a turn to play!

After some of that, we moved on to the birthday cake. I must say, Isaac takes after me in this respect... he wanted a triple chocolate ice cream birthday cake:

Everybody seemed to love the cake- I think there were hardly any pieces left unfinished!

Isaac received LOTS of gifts that he loved!

(we're still working on the thank you notes if you are wondering!)

I took pics of all the kids with their lego creations.

Here is cousin Lydia:

Cousin Corbin:

Cousing Austin:

Cousin Luke:

Cousin Zack:

Daphne Doodle: Isaac seemed to love the party and the other kids also seemed to have a great time! I was a little surprised at how exhausted I was afterward... Matt and I were about done for the day, so we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner! Yay- that was the party for Mom. :)

It's Great to Be Eight!

Eight years ago today, Matt and I were blessed with the most precious baby boy, Isaac Matthew. Although he was 3 weeks early, he weighted nearly 8 lbs. and brought me to a new level of devotion. I did not know how much my heart could grow! We named him Isaac, after the son of Abraham, and realized after the fact that Isaac means "laughter". And his laughter is one of the most wonderful sounds in my life. Isaac has the best laugh. I have had several people stop me and tell me how just hearing him laugh makest them giggle. Isaac brings us so much joy- Here we are just moments after he joined us: And here he is this morning:

My precious baby boy has grown into a tall, handsome eight year old! He comes up to my chin now- he's the size of a ten or eleven year old and I can hardly believe he's eight.

On Sunday, we celebrated the Super Bowl, Isaac's Birthday, Corbin's Birthday and Jude's birthday. He had a blast with his cousins...

Here he is with his new Nintendo DS from Nanny and Papa...

He eats, sleeps and breathes for that thing. Every day, he wakes up and asks to play it, he comes home and asks to do his homework so he can play it, he wants to play it after dinner and so on and so forth.

I love this picture of he and his cousin, Zack:

Although the past eight years have literally flown by, I have cherished every one. I am immensely grateful to our Gracious God for sending him to our family. I don't know if I could possibly love him more, but I will spend the rest of my life trying. We love you, Isaac!

More Sledding

So, I am embarrassed to admit it, but I've never really been sledding. I have lived in Utah for nearly ten years now and I have never really participated in any winter sports. I have been skiing a grand total of 4 times (4 trips), all of which occured during my Texas days on youth group trips to Colorado. I know- that's pathetic, isn't it? But, to quote my friend Carole, my feelings about skiing can be summed up in one word: torturous.
Seriously. When I was 14 and went skiing for the first time, I faked a stomach bug and threw up into the snow to avoid finishing ski school. I hated it. And every time I went on a ski trip thereafter, I spent more time in the lodge keeping company those who had been injured during their various trips down the ski slopes. I am quite certain that winter sports just aren't my thing.
Matt, of course, is certain that this is because I never tried snowboarding, which is so much better than skiing. And I just never have wanted to spend much time in the snow. So, I haven't ever tried sledding either. But, after looking at my friend, Marcy's sledding pics, I realized that I am with-holding all sorts of winter fun from my sweet little children. I mean, don't get me wrong... Isaac is learning to snowboard and they build snow men and snow forts and have snow ball fights all throughout the winter. And, in truth, we have a little sledding hill at our school, where the children both spent much time sledding during their days at my school. But, as far as fun family sledding outings, this was our first group trip...
And we had a blast!

Tori was so excited to be all dressed up in her snow clothes!
We went to an extremely steep hill, in my opinion, for our day of fun. Once you sat onto the sled, you were on your way down the hill, so in the pics we are hovering over the tubes to keep from jumping the gun!

There are sections of the hill where there are little moguls or jumps that kind of send you bouncing down the hill. This was really fun, until we sent Isaac and Daphne down on the tube without a grown-up. They literally flew up into the air and it looked like Isaac landed on his head! I, of course, screamed and Matt ran down the hill to get to them. Isaac had actually landed on his shoulder blades, and Daphne hit her head. Isaac bit his lip and was bleeding and it was a little scary for a minute.

But, all in all, the fun runs out-weighed the scary one!
Look! Isn't that crazy steep?!

And in truth, I walked away from the experience, thinking, "Oh- this does make winter more fun!"

And I suppose that Mommy having a better attitude about winter is good for everyone!

Here Comes the Bride!

One of Daphne's favorite things to do these days is play dress-up. I know, I know, What's new, right? Dress-Up has been one of Daphne's favorite activities for years now. But, the new part, I suppose, is that she is sort-of preoccupied with marriage these days. On this day, she dressed up like a bride (that's a slip on her head) and waited in the front room for Matt to come downstairs and marry her. Then, they came up with their own "secret dance moves" for the wedding dance. Tori and I got to sit on the couch and I performed the ceremony and then watched their magnificent dance moves. I totally wish I had recorded that!

The other new dimension in Daphne's imaginative play is that she likes to bring Tori into the mix... usually against Tori's will. But on this occasion, Tori wanted to dress up. When Daphne put on her pink tutu, Tori kept rubbing her dress and saying , "DapDap" (which is her word for Daphne), and then rubbing her own clothes and saying, "Baby." (which is what she calls herself). Daphne decoded the message and ran to get Tori her own frilly pink dress to wear. And Victoria loved it! She kept it on all morning and refused to have it removed. I had to pull it off of her as she screamed so that she could eat her lunch!

Messy, Messy Cook!

On Friday, we had company for dinner. So, as any busy mom would do, I spent all of the afternoon preparing and cooking lasagna, throwing together a salad, cleaning the house, etc...
Just as I was finishing the dessert, Victoria woke up from her nap. For some reason, She just woke up on the wrong side of the bed and nothing seemed to help. Even when I let her lick the cream off the spoon, she was still a very sad and cranky girl: Until, of course, I brought out ....the chocolate! Now she's all smiles!

That's my girl.

(This is her excited face!)